
Class t-i.ViS_. 

CopyiightN" ^ 

C.OFyRIGHT DEPOStr. 



EAELY 
AMERICAN HISTORY 



FOR 



YOUNG AMERICANS 



By 

HENRY SABIN, LL.D. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction of loica, 

1888-1892 and 1894-1898 

AND 

ELBRIDGE H. SABIN 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Boston 
New York Chicago San Francisco 



S\3 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

JUN 8 1904 

Cooyrleht Entry 

CLASS /\ ' XXc. No. 

COPY B 



COI'YUIGIITED BA' 

EnirCATIONAI. PTTBLl?HIN(i COMPANY 

1904 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface 

I. The Romance of History ^ 

II. The Coming of Columbus 17 

III. Who Discovered America? 27 

Indian Names (Poem) 39 

IV. Successors to Columbus *1 

V. The First Voyage to the Philippines 50 

VI. De Soto and the Mississippi 63 

VII. The First Settlement ''^ 

VIII. The Oldest English Colony 88 

IX. The Pilgrim Fathers 107 

The Pilgrim Fathers— Where are They? (Poem). 121 

X. Puritan Children 123 

XI. Salem Witchcraft 1^^ 

XII. The Dutch in New York - . 14/ 

XIII. The Quakers in Pennsylvania 160 

XIV. The Thirteen Colonies Complete 173 

XV. Marquette the Priest 186 

XVI. La Salle the Soldier 1^9 

XVII. The French and Indian War— Defeat 214 

XVIII. The French and Indian War— Victory 230 

XIX. Mutterings of the Storm 246 

XX. The Storm Breaks 262 

New England's Dead (Poem) 284 

XXI. Washington in Command 287 

Nathan Hale (Poem) .307 

XXII. Dark Days . 309 

XXII I. Brighter Days ^24 

XXIV. Benedict Arnold, Traitor 341 

Song of Marion's Men (Poem) 357 

XXV. The Butt" and Blue Triumphant 360 

XXVI. Independence 375 

America (Poem) 381 

8 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



TITLE PAGE 

Puritans Going to Church .... . . 11 

Map Showing Route of Columbus ... .16 

The Departure of Columbus from Spain .... 17 

The Boy Columbus 18 

Columbus Before the Council of Salamanca .... 20 

The Ships of Columljus 21 

Landing of Columbus 22 

Map Showing Sea Monster, 150u 25 

The Santa Maria 27 

Map Showing Norway, Iceland, and North .\merica . . 28 

Map Showing Asia and North America .... 30 

Indians and Their Dwellings 33 

Old View of Mound Cemetery 84 

Cliff' Dwellings 36 

Map Showing Routes of Some of the Early E.xplorers . . 42 

Early Discoveries 44 

Sebastian Cabot 47 

Sir Walter Raleigh 48 

Magellan 50 

The Port of Seville 61 

De Soto 63 

De Soto Discovering the Mississippi 64 

De Soto's Course 67 

Alabama River 69 

A Corner in Old St. Augustine 79 

Map Showing Jamestown and Vicinity . . ... 88 

Captain John Smith 90 

Powhatan 94 

Pocahontas 95 

John Smith and Powhatan ....... 96 

John Smith in Virginia 98 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Marriage of Pocahontas 102 

Embarkation of the Pilgrims 106 

The Return of the Mayflower 114 

Roger Williams' House, Salem, Built 1635 . . . .116 

Standish House at Duxbury 119 

A Page from the New England Primer 12-1 

Puritan Home 125 

Puritan Maiden Spinning 128 

The Tithing Man ... 131 

Cotton Mather 145 

Map Showing Different Settlements 146 

Old Dutch House 153 

Peter Stuyvesant 156 

Old Dutch Church, Tarry town, N. Y 158 

William Penn 163 

William Penn's House 170 

James Oglethorpe 174 

Quebec Harbor 187 

Marquette and Joliet Exploring the Mississippi ... 192 

Statue of La Salle, Erected in Lincoln Park, Chicago, 111. . 200 

La Salle Taking Possession in the Name of France . . 211 

Map 220 

Washington's Early Home Near Fredericksburg . . . 222 

Braddock's Route, 1755 ^ . .224 

Map of Acadia (from an old print) 223 

Quebec 241 

Death of Wolfe 244 

Stamps That were Used 251 

Patrick Henry Delivering His Celebrated Speech, 1765 . 254 

Benjamin Franklin 257 

Old State House, Boston 258 

The Minute Man . • • • 262 

Old Powder House, Somerville, Mass. .... 264 

Old North Church, Boston 265 

Lexington 266 

Battle of Lexington 270 

Boston and Environs, 1776 274 

Bunker Hill Monument . . > 276 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plan of the Battle of Bunker Hill 

Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga 

Richard Montgomery 

Statue of General Warren 

Washington 

Sergeant Jasper Restoring the Flag 

Facsimile of Portion of Declaration of Independence 

Signing the Declaration of Independence 

The Liberty Bell 

Battle of Long Island .... 
Nathan Hale Monument, New Yorlc 

General Cornwallis 

Scene of Action Along the Delaware River 
Gen. Philip Schuyler .... 

Gen. John Stark 

Gen. Horatio Gates .... 

Lafayette 

Washington and La Fayette 

Gen. Charles Lee 

Attacked by Indians .... 
Gen. Anthony Wayne .... 

Gen. B. Lincoln 

Paul Jones 

Benedict Arnold 

Francis Marion 

Hudson River, Showing Scene of Andre's Capture 



277 
280 
281 
284 
287 
291 
293 
294 
297 
299 
306 
309 
310 
314 
315 
316 
324 
326 
329 
332 
338 
336 
337 
341 
345 
351 



PREFACE. 

The senior author of this book is a lover of history. The 
junior is not, or at least was not at the time when the work 
was undertaken. In a conversation between father and 
son, regarding the reason for this difference, it seemed to 
develop that the one found continual pleasure in the study 
because he had not contented himself with simply the 
limited knowledge obtained in school and college. On 
the contrary, for many years he had cultivated and retained 
a taste for history by reading and re-reading many a treas- 
ured volume in which there is such a wealth of imagery and 
description, that the reader can see and hear and actually 
take part in tlie events of long ago. 

The other, his head tilled with a jumbled mass of dates, 
names, and figures, at the end of his school days had closed 
his history with a sigh of relief, and had sought no farther, 
glad to think that no one thereafter could make him pursue 
so dry a subject. This disgust, occasioned partly because 
he had been shown only the dry husk and not the kernel 
concealed within, had followed him for twenty years. 

In part, this was the fault of the junior author himself. 
In part, it was the fault of the text books he studied, and 
the methods of instruction in vogue when he was in school. 
In those days attention was given exclusively to what hap- 
pened, and, above all, to the exact date when it happened. 
There was little attempt to find out why, how, and with 
what result ; to appeal to the active imagination possessed 

5 



6 PREFACE 

by every healthy boy and girl ; to contrast the past with 
the present, and to plan from the present into the future, or 
to mingle the interesting with the uninteresting, so that all 
would be remembered with pleasure. 

An effort seldom was made to present the subject so that 
men and events should have an actual, living existence out- 
side of the printed page ; to draw occasional simple, practi- 
cal lessons from the lives and deeds of bygone years ; or to 
arouse in each pupil a desire to search for himself and to 
become familiar with the many works by gifted authors, in 
which explorations, settlements, battles, debates, and the 
careers of soldiers and statesmen are described with a 
power and picturesqueness impossible in any condensed 
text book. 

As a result of this conversation, father and son concluded 
together to write an early American history for boys and 
girls, and this somewhat personal explanation has been 
given as the best means of making known its object — to 
give enjoj^ment and to awaken interest, rather than to 
instruct in details and to tell everything. While there is an 
attempt to furnish a full outline of events up to the close of 
the Revolution, the book by no means is presented as a 
complete history of that period, and the outline itself is 
given more to connect the different chapters and points of 
prominence than to be memorized and retained. 

If the boys and girls, into whose hands this book may 
come, read it with zest, they must read it with profit also, 
and be led to look into other volumes, perhaps first select- 
ing those which most appeal to their fancy,, but gradually 
acquiring the taste of the true student of history. If the 
perusal of these pages inspires their hearts with a more 



PREFACE 7 

intense love of our coimtry, and gives tlieni a few biin[)le 
reasons for that love, they will lal)or the harder to do their 
part to make her future such that she may be worthy the 
devotion of generations yet unborn. If they turn the final 
page with a feeling of admiration for the self-sacrifice, the 
heroism, and the patriotism of their forefathers, they will 
strive the more to nuike their own lives deserve the emula- 
tion of their children and their children's children. 

These are some of the thoughts we have had in mind as 
these pages have been written. That our plans have l)een 
carried out but imperfectly, we are aware ; but our hearts 
have been in our work, and we have tried to reach the 
hearts of the boys and girls of our land ; and to the extent 
that this is accomplished, we sliall be satisfied. 

Henky Sabin. 

Elbridge H. Sabin. 



EART.Y AMERICAN HISTORY 



I. 

THE ROMANCE OF HISTORY. 

On these pages we shall together study the early 
history o£ our own country. While it is well for 
us to know about other lands and other races ; their 
customs and their governments ; how they have had 
their rise ^nd fall ; how their great men and women 
have lived and died ; and of the traits of their 
common people, in whom rests the strength or the 
weakness of every nation, ytt of highest interest to 
each boy and girl of the United States :s the story 
of our own dear land. 

To this let us for the present confine ourselves. 
We shall see how a brave voyager found a new 
continent ; and how those who followed him grew 
in vigor and number until they formed a small but 
independent nation — a nation which has increased 
in wealth, territory, and power so that to-day it 
stands a leader in the civilized world. 

With a feeling of pride we shall come to the last 
pages ; but let us ever keep in mind the fact that 

9 



10 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the history is not then ended, and the portion yet 
to come is to be filled with our own acts and deeds. 
Our part also will be well performed if we are 
honest, brave, and true, as have been those who 
have gone before us ; and if humbly, yet confidently, 
we always look for guidance to Him who never 
failed our fathers nor our forefathers in times of 
trouble, and who will not fail us if we call upon 
Him and try to do His will. 

According to the way you go about it, history 
will be found a dull or a delightful study. If you 
look upon it simply as something you must learn 
because others do, and your parents and teachers 
want you to, it contains only a mass of bare facts 
and dry dates. To read it thus is drudgery, and 
even if you know the book from cover to cover, 
there is little of gain or profit. If on the other 
hand you enter into the spirit of the book, there is 
no subject which can be to you a source of greater 
pleasure. Think while you read. Try and believe 
that you actually are living amid the scenes 
described on the page before you. Remember 
always that these things truly happened and to 
those then livino- were as real as the events of the 
present are to you. 

When Columbus said that by going straight 
ahead he could pass around the world and come 



EAHLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



11 



back to the jDlace whence he had started, people 
thought him as crazy as you would consider a man 
who should come into your schoolroom and tell you 
that he had climbed a high mountain, and reaching 
up his hand, had touched a solid sky. Columbus 
"was laughed at just as you would make fun of a 
boy who after the next shower should start off 
across the fields to find a pot of gold at the end of 
a rainbow. 




rUI:ITANS OOIXG TO CHrRCII. 



How would you like to go to church through the 
woods, with your father carrying a shotgun to 
defend you from savages who at any moment might 
send an arrow at you from behind a tree ? Yet 
this is the way the children went in the early days, 
not in a picture, not in a book, but along the paths 



12 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

beneath the overhanging branches, in sunUght and 
shadow; sturdy lads and brave lassies, but just as 
anxious as you are not to be hit by an arrow nor 
cut with a knife. 

When the snow and ice cover the oround and 
the cold wind howls through the leafless trees, to 
you has come the season for skates and sleds, and 
for cozy evenings in your warm and cheerful 
homes; a jolly Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas, 
and happy New Year. Think of the contrast when 
you read about the first winter spent by the 
colonists on the New England coast. On the one 
side was the pitiless ocean and on the other the 
bleak forest. Little food was left from what they 
had brought with them and none had been raised 
before winter had come. They had no letters from 
home, no telegraph, and no newspaper. Sad indeed 
must have been their hearts, wondering when spring 
would arrive and what even the next day might bring. 

So through each year and period, take the facts 
and people home to yourselves. Then you will find 
that history is simply a story, and is more interesting 
than legend or fairy tale because it really is true. 

In reading history, we are very apt to let our 
passions and prejudices run away with our judg- 
ment. In every struggle, one side appeals so 
strongly to our sympathies, and our feelings are 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 13 

aroused to such a pitch, that how any just man 
could have been on the other, is more than we can 
understand. This party seems made up entirely 
of heroes and patriots, and that of traitors and 
oppressors. 

The true student, however, tries to look calmly 
on both sides of every question. He remembers 
that many things which now seem as clear as the 
sun at noon-day, were, in the times of which he is 
reading, points upon which people honestly could 
differ. He finds that men were not necessarily 
bad at heart because they favored the wrong cause, 
and they arouse pity and compassion rather than 
hatred and contempt. In their devotion to what 
they believed to be right, he sees much even to 
praise. 

You will read how the savages tortured men, 
women, and children and with the glee of fiends 
laid waste the homes of the early settlers ; yet it is 
not true that all Indians were devils in human form, 
for many of them met the whites with kindness, 
and welcomed them. They fought only when the 
streams, woods, and fields in which they fished, 
hunted, and built their homes, were taken from 
them in the irresistible approach of a stronger race. 
Wrono-s the Indian did, but wrongs were done him 
also. As you read, give him a fair hearing. 



14 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

I£ ever a holy war were waged, it was the Revohi- 
tion. All peaceful means to obtain our rights were 
tried without avail, and by arms alone could oppres- 
sion and tyranny be resisted. How well the little 
army strove, and to what end, is a tale old but ever 
new. Still every red coat did not cover a tyrant's 
heart, and many a boy sailed away from his home 
in his loved England, fought bravely and died 
gladly, doing, as he saw it, his duty to his king 
and country. 

Then, when you read of that most terrible of all 
wars, the Rebellion, where father engaged against 
son, and brother against brother, there is need for 
all your calmness and self-control. The gray was 
wrong, eternally wrong. The blue was right, as it 
always has been, and we trust always will be. This 
we realize, but we need not be ashamed if our 
hearts thrill as we read of the desperate bravery 
and the heroic self-sacrifice of old and young who 
pledged themselves to the lost cause. 

If some time you should visit in a southern home, 
perhaps your host will bring forth a faded picture 
from some secret drawer and you will gaze on the 
features of a smooth-faced, dark-eyed boy who, pure 
in purpose, years ago went forth to battle against 
the north and came not back. His mother's tears 
were just as sincere as is the grief in some of the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 15 

homes o£ your own state over the soldier boys who 
have lately died in foreign lands for the dear old 
flag. You, the children of a new generation, 
impartially should study the history of these terrible 
times from which both sides learned many a lesson 
never to be forgotten. 

It will not be the aim of this book to give a 
complete account of the early history of the United 
States. Much must be omitted, or mereh^ touched 
upon in passing. If it tells you some things which 
are new and interesting ; if it increases your love of 
your country, your pride in its past and your trust 
in its future ; and if it suggests farther study by 
each of you for himself, it will have done that for 
which it has been written. 




MAI' SHOWINU HOUTE OF COLUMBUS. 




OLUMBUS FROM SPAIN. 



II. 

THE COMING OF COLUMBUS. 

To the first man the earth was flat, except as 
varied by hill and dale. To whom it first occurred 
that the world is round, will ever be a secret. The 
ancient Egyptians studied the paths of the stars, 
and perhaps the shape of the world also, was known 
to some of them. It was taught by Aristotle and 
other wise men of Greece centuries before the birth 
of Christ. From their time down to the sixteenth 
century, learned men speculated, astronomers figured, 
and poets dreamed ; meanwhile a new land slept 
unknown, waiting for him who had not only power 
to think, but courage to perform. 

17 



18 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




This man was Columbus. He was born in Italy 
in 1435 or 1436. As a boy he studied ; as a youth 
he journeyed far and wide — in his own words, 
" wherever ship has sailed." 
The islands and shores of the 
Mediterranean, the coast of 
Africa, England, and even Ice- 
land, the " farthest land," were 
visited by him. Into his willino- 
ears were poured tales of the 
riches of India beyond the 
mighty Indus and of a still 
stranger land, China, beyond 
the river Ganges ; and how 
these places might possibly be 
reached by sailing around the southern point of 
Africa. 

If, however, the world were really a sphere and 
these countries, as many thought, extended indefi- 
nitely eastward, by sailing west across a narrow 
strip of water untold riches would be his. That 
this could be done became firmly fixed in his mind, 
and with him, to think was to act. 

Slow was his progress in carrying out this pur- 
pose. History gives ns no example of greater 
pluck and patience. He lacked funds to furnish 
and fit out ships. He had not the rank to per- 



THK BUY COLUMBUS. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 19 

suade sailors to undertake so bold a venture. 
Genoa refused all his offers. For ten long years 
without success he besouoht the king- of Portuofal. 
Then, wearied but not disheartened, he turned his 
steps towards Spain. There for four years more 
he haunted the courts of king and queen and 
noblemen, praised and encouraged one day, reviled 
and rebuked the next, but ever keeping in view his 
one purpose. 

Finally, when, disappointed but determined, he was 
departing for France, a messenger called him back 
to the court of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand 
of Spain, and in April, 1492, the pledge sought 
through so many years was given. His reward was 
to be a title of high degree in the new possessions 
and one tenth of all profit by trading or conquest. 
What prompted this king and queen to back a 
scheme the success of which at the best must have 
seemed possible rather than probable ? They, too, 
longed for the fabled riches of the East, but in 
their hearts burned the desire to spread to lands 
and races unknown the gospel of the blessed Christ. 

Love of God and greed for gold ! These are the 
motives which have ever sent men westward across 
the seas. True, Columbus and his followers did 
not reach China or India ; but hand in hand the 
trader and the missionary landed on our shores ; 



20 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



hand in hand they wandered across the continent ; 
and to-day hand in hand they sail the Pacific 
Ocean, still onward, carrying our religion and the 
fruits of our industry to the isles and empires of 
the East. 




(JULUJIKUS BKFORK TFIK COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA. 

He argut's tliat tlie world is round. 



noting. 



Strange it is to think that you, the children of 
to-day, are to be the first to reap the benefit of the 
vast trade with that Orient towards which the king 
and queen of Spain reached out their arms in vain 
four hundred years ago. Your corn and cotton, 
the products of your mills, factories, and packing- 
houses, will be sent into the countries of the East ; 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



21 



and back will come woods and spices, silver, gold, 
and precious stones — not to Spain, but to the land 
which has recently driven her from her last strong- 
hold in the new world. 




THE SHIPS OF C'OIAMBUS. 



On August 3, 1492, in three small vessels and 
with one hundred and twenty men, Columbus 
sailed. October 12, seventy days later, land was 
seen. It was one of the Bahama Islands, and was 
christened " San Salvador." The exact point is not 
established beyond dispute. Perhaps it is the 
island still bearing the name San Salvador, but by 
some it is thought to be Watling's Island, lying still 




LANDING OF COLUMBUS. 

(Irving, in his "Life of Columbus," gives this picture as havinj? been drawn 
by Columbus himself.) 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 23 

farther east. Look on your maps, just off the 
southern point of Florida, and see for yourselves 
where a European, coming from the east, first trod 
the new world. 

In August he sailed. In October he landed. 
These are simple words, but how much they mean ! 
Who can imaoine the feelinos of Columbus and his 
ignorant crew when the last known land sank behind 
the eastern horizon and before them stretched those 
restless, rolling waters, where man never had been 
before ? There was no fear of hunger or thirst, of 
heat or cold, or even of a manly death. All these 
things they had bravely faced time and again in 
previous voyages. But now they sailed to meet 
untold dangers. 

The child laughs and plays in the light shed by 
the evening lamp close to his mother's chair; yet 
behind the sofa in the distant corner of the room, 
in the darkened hall, or in the gloomy cellar, lurk 
hidden perils, and if he approach these places, a 
strange dread seizes him and back he hurries to 
where his hand can reach his mother's gown. A 
terror akin to this must have touched the hearts of 
those grown men as the breezes bore them steadily 
into the mysterious West. 

From time immemorial, men had peopled the 
unexplored regions of earth, air, and sea with spirits 



24 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and monsters ready to attack the unhappy person 
who might come into the reahns set apart for them 
alone. At first the sailors under Columbus must 
have whispered secretly among themselves ; then 
there were murmurs of discontent, and as month 
merged into month, open threats of mutiny. Here 
again was displayed tlie spirit of their leader. He 
who had waited year after year for a chance to 
carry out his plans, was not to he thwarted now 
when the goal was almost within his reach. 

Explaining, pleading, promising, commanding, 
he kept his vessels ever turned towards the setting 
sun ; and when drifting wood, flying birds, and 
perfumed winds told of land near by, confidence 
came to all. At last toil and pain, grief and 
fear were forgotten as the mariners knelt on the 
shore and gave thanks to God for his care and 
guidance. 

Five months later Columbus returned to Spain. 
Triumphant was his reception. Few men have 
borne news so startling or of such import. To 
convince the doubtful, he brought with him gold, 
strange plants, beasts, and even natives. As these 
passed in long procession before their eyes, those 
who previously had scoffed and derided him prob- 
ably were loudest in their praise. No one realized 
that a new continent, and not China nor Arabia, had 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



25 



been brought within their reach ; but here was gold 
to be dug, new fields to be explored, a new race to 
be Christianized, and, swayed by cupidity, love of 
adventure, and religious zeal, men of all nations 
were aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. 

S£PT1£NTK!0 « 




MAI' SHOWING SEA MONSTKR — 1500. 



Three more voyages Columbus made, carrying 
priests and colonists across the water to the new 
world, and returning, at times in health and honor, 
again in sickness and disgrace. Finally he died 
without having understood the importance of his 
discovery. 



26 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

What advantage did Spain take of her great oppor- 
tunity ? To-day she should be a leader of nations 
in two continents. What is the fact? Not one foot 
of soil on this side of the ocean is hers. In the 
war fought by your fathers and brothers, Cuba, her 
last possession, was set free. Her only relic is a 
handful of dust, the remains of Columbus, which 
recently were taken back from Havana to Spain. 

Let this teach us that nations, like men, suffer 
from evil deeds. K we are not honest and thrifty 
at home, and do not govern Avitli justice and kind- 
ness abroad, then will Cuba look elsewhere for 
protection, the Philippines pass into other hands, 
the trade of the Orient be lost, and our glory and 
our greatness likewise be gone forever. 




THK .SANTA MAKIA, ciNK OK COLUMBUS' VKs^KLS. 

(From a model shown at World's Fair, f'liicago.) 
III. 

WHO DISCOVERED AMERICA? 

Columbus discovered America. That is well 
known to every boy and girl. However, although 
everything points to the fact that the origin of 
mankind was in the old world, when Columbus set 
foot on the shore of the new world natives came to 
greet him. Consequently, since he found others 
here before him, he discovered America only in 
that he was the one to open up lasting communica- 
tion between the two continents. 

27 



28 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Some one else was the first to disclose this great 
treasure. Who he was, of what race, when and 
whence he came, is not known beyond dispute. 
Look on your globe or map and see how short is 
the distance from Iceland around the southern 
point of Greenland to North America. From Nor- 
way to Iceland is an easy journey, and more bold 




NORWAY, ICELAND, AND NORTH AMERICA. 

and dashino- rovers never sailed the sea than the 
hardy Norsemen and their descendants. 

Tradition has it that several times before Colum- 
bus came, they visited this country. Very likely 
what they told him on his voyage to Iceland was 
one of the things convincing him that his ideas were 
right. The Norsemen, however, left few perma- 



EARLY AMKRICAN HISTORY 29 

nent traces, and it is not probable that those arriv- 
ing by this route had anything to do with the early 
settlement of the continent. 

Directly across the Pacific Ocean from the south- 
ern part of North America, is the seat of the oldest 
civilization of the world. Doubtless in that locality 
was the cradle of the human race. Ages ago the 
coast of Asia may have extended much farther to 
the east than now, and America much farther to 
the west. The small islands dotting the ocean may 
have been much larger and more inhabitable, or 
there may have been other islands of vast size 
which since have sunk beneath the waves. 

Borne from one to another of these, by chance 
or design, men may have passed from continent 
to continent. Then, as the shores receded and 
the islands became barren or disappeared, they 
would forget each other, except through myth or 
tradition. 

Look again on your maps and see how close to 
Asia is the northwestern extremity of Alaska. 
From shore to shore, at that point, or from island 
to island, by boat in summer or by ice in winter, is 
an easy passage. In this way, no doubt, men 
crossed ages before Columbus came. Perhaps, with 
the lapse of centuries, they drifted south and east, 
here becoming fierce and warlike, there domestic 



30 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



and peaceful ; here roaming- and following the chase, 
there becoming settled and building rude homes ; 
and finally the strong attacking the weak and driv- 
ing them into the mountains and barren, sunburned 
plains. This probably is the easiest way to account 
for the population of America. 




ASIA ANIi NOKTH AMKKICA. 



There is a legend, too, that in times long past, 
somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain, 
was another continent — the fabled Atlantis. Here, 
as some believe, lived a race far advanced in civil- 
ization, with busy cities, green farms, and happy 
homes. They traded with Europe on the east and 
sent colonies to America on the west. Then came 
some awful convulsion of nature. The island sud- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 31 

denly was submerged and where once was life, love, 
and industry, now rolls the ocean. 

All these are interesting theories. The facts are, 
that Columbus found America inhabited and that 
the exact origin of the Indians probably never will 
be known. They had no system of writing and 
possessed no literature. Their knowledge of past 
events was confined to tales told from generation 
to generation by the old men of the tribe to the 
young men, and repeated to the children by the 
young men as they themselves grew old. 

The traditions of one tribe say that the sun was 
their father and the moon their mother; of another 
that they came out of a hole in the ground, 
and that when enough men had issued, the Great 
Spirit closed the opening with his foot, and left 
a hollow in the earth, to which the narrators pointed 
in proof of the story ; of others, that their remote 
ancestors came from the north and west, driving 
weaker tribes before them and possessing the coun- 
try. It is possible that, if the truth were known, 
the Indian could trace his ancestry in this continent 
back throuofh the mound builders and other more 
civilized races to a time centuries before the Chris- 
tian era. 

The extent of the Indian population at the time 
Columbus came has been much exaggerated. Some 



32 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

authorities claim that there were not more than 
three thousand east of the Rocky Mountains. In 
disposition the Indians were mikl and kind towards 
those they regarded as friends ; relentless and cruel 
towards their enemies. This is shown by the spirit 
with which they met the whites in the beginning- 
and with which, a little later, they fought them to 
the death. In physical characteristics they were 
much alike. All had the same red complexion, 
straight black hair, high cheek bones, black eyes, 
and sloping forehead. Their bodies were tall, 
straight, and graceful. In actual strength they 
usually were inferior to the white man, but often 
they more than made up for this by their quickness 
and agility. 

One of their great peculiarities has been their 
inability to adaj^t themselves to a civilized life. 
They have been killed in battle, they liave perished 
through disease, and they have yielded to the vices 
which always follow in the track of the white man, 
but they have not mingled with the conqueror nor 
adopted his customs. With few exceptions, as far 
as possible the Indian of to-day lives and dies in the 
same way as did his fathers before Columbus came. 

While often they cultivated patches of corn and 
sometimes they raised enough to carry over from 
one year to another, to a great extent the Indians 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



33 



depended for food on hunting and fishing. Their 
dwelling-phices were made of skins sewed together, 
or of the hark of trees. Not infrequently they 
erected quite spacious huiklings, as a pkice of abode 
for some great chief or for public council. As a rule 
they did not stay long in auy one place, but roamed 
here and there where game might best be found. 




IMUANS AND THP:IU DWELLINGS. 



Althouoh at times tribe wao-ed bitter war ao^ainst 
tribe, as a whole their lives were peaceful and 
happy. They loved their families and their homes, 
they prized field and forest, brook and river. Stern 
necessity demanded that the civilization of the 
whites should occupy this fertile country, but the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 35 

thoughtful historian, without a feeling of sympathy 
and sorrow, cannot see an entire race banished 
from the face of the earth. 

The title of the uncivilized red man to the land 
on which he and his fathers had dwelt for centuries, 
need not here be discussed. It is enough to say 
that whatsoever the right he may have had, to his 
mind it seemed absolute and by the early settlers it 
was utterly disregarded. If to-day there should 
suddenly appear among us strange men from some 
distant planet, who should calmly proceed to take 
possession of our farms and cities, would we not be 
filled with fear and would we not fight them, 
sparing neither young nor old ? 

Thus felt the Indian when mysterious strangers 
came from over the sea and took from him his 
home and hunting grounds. Perchance in his 
simple mind there was a dim foreboding of the fate 
which might await him. So he fought, fiercely 
and perhaps cruelly, but impelled more by a sense 
of self preservation than by a natural thirst for 
blood. In the struggle for supremacy, right and 
justice have not always been on the side of the 
white men. 

We have now learned that whatever may have 
been the origin of the Indian, centuries before the 
landing of Columbus, men dwelt where we now live. 



sn 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



In many parts of the United States, particularly in 
the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, are mounds 
of huge size and plainly the work of human hands. 
They form circles, squares, parallelograms, and even 
the figures of animals. Some, encircled at the outer 
edge by a fence of wood, were used as forts; on some 




CLIFF DWELLINGS. 



homes were built ; others were for religious ceremony 
or places of burial ; and others, placed on hills or 
bluffs, were points whence signals could be flashed 
from one to another — a kind of wireless telegraphy. 
The vast labor necessary to erect these mounds 
shows an industry and joint effort of Avhicli the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 37 

tribes found by the white men gave no signs. In 
them are unearthed pottery and implements of war 
and chase made with a skill unknown to the Indians. 
Many of them contain human bones mingled with 
those of the mastodon, an animal rivaling in bulk 
the modern elephant, and believed to have existed 
here when the land slowly emerged from the vast 
fields of ice by which it once was covered. 

In Colorado, Arizona, and other western states 
where, through countless years, the rivers have worn 
deep canyons in the steep mountains, are visible 
traces of another race. On a level space on the top 
of an abrupt cliff they constructed homes of sun- 
dried brick or hollowed out great rooms in the very 
sides of the canyon. These could be reached only 
by the means of steps cut in the rock, or else by a 
ladder which could be taken away after entering, thus 
leaving the occupant safe from foes. By irrigation 
a little corn was raised, and the streams furnished 
fish. These people, too, were skilled in pottery, 
weaving, and in making implements of stone. 

Furious must have been the attacks which could 
have driven men to live in such a desolate place ; 
yet here they d^velt for centuries and probably as 
happily as the Indian who could throw himself 
down to rest on tlie green grass by the water rip- 
pling under overhanging trees. 



38 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Some time you may find pleasure in studying for 
yourselves about the mound builders, the cliff 
dwellers, and those who lived in bygone times in 
other parts of this land. Although hard to believe, 
it is possible that here, as far back as the glory of 
Egypt or Babylon, there may have been men civil- 
ized to a degree not known in Spain at the time 
Columbus sailed. 

It is not the purpose of this book to deal with 
such subjects. The foregoing has been written to 
try to broaden the view and widen the horizon 
before limiting ourselves to the growth and develop- 
ment of one nation, which, mighty in itself, still is 
but a sinole Jink in an endless chain of events 
stretching far back into an uncertain past and 
forward into an unknown future. While we are 
proud of what has been done and proud of what we 
feel we ourselves can do, let us guard against being- 
vain or boastful. The study of history teaches us 
to be meek. Our wisest men always have been the 
humblest. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 39 

INDIAN NAMES. 

Ye say they all have passed away, 

That noble race and brave ; 
That their light canoes have vanished 

From off the crested wave ; 
That 'mid the forests where they roamed, 

There rings no hunter's shout; 
But their names are on your waters. 

Ye may not wash them out. 

They 're where Ontario's billow 

Like ocean's surge is curled, 
Where strong Niagara's thundei's wake 

The echo of the world. 
Where red Missouii bringeth 

Kich tribute from the AYest, 
And Rappahannock sweetly sleeps 

On green Virginia's breast. 

Ye say their conelike cabins, 

That clustered o'er the vale, 
Have fled away like withered leaves 

Before the autunm gale ; 
But their memory liveth on your hills. 

Their baptism on your shore, 
Yoi;r everlasting rivers speak 

Their dialect of yore. 

Old Massachusetts wears it 

Upon her stately crown. 
And broad Ohio bears it 

Amid his young renown ; 



40 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Connecticut has wreathed it 

Where her quiet foliage waves ; 

And bold Kentucky breathes it hoarse 
Throuoh all her ancient caves. 

Wachusett hides its lingering voice 

Within its rocky heart ; 
And Alleghany graves its tone 

Throughout its lofty chart; 
Monadnock, on his forehead hoar, 

Doth seal the sacred trust ; 
Your mountains Imild their monument, 

Though ye destroy their dust. 

Ye call these red-browed brethren 

The insects of an hour. 
Crushed like the noteless worm amid 

The regions of tiieir power; 
Ye drive tliem from their fathers' land, 

Ye break of faith the seal ; 
But can ye from the court of Heaven 

ICxclude their last appeal? 

Ye see their unresisting tribes, 

With toilsome ste]) and slow. 
On through the trackless deseit pass, 

A caravan of woe ; 
Think ye the Eternal Ear is deaf? 

His sleepless vision dim? 
Think ye the soul's blood may not cry 

Fi'om that far land to Him? 



TV. 

SUCCESSORS TO COLUMBUS. 

The prospector, wandering here and there over 
hills and mountains, is the forerunner of many a 
modern city. A plain but picturesque character 
is he. In the early spring, while the snow still 
clings to the higher peaks and, slowly melting, 
swells the mountain streams to raging torrents, he 
starts out. On the back of mule or patient burro 
are packed food, frying pan, blankets, pick, hammer, 
and instruments for testing ore — a scanty outfit, but 
enough for his few needs. Thus, far from civiliza- 
tion, he strays alone, looking for silver or gold. 

Sometimes he is successful, but more often the 
blasts of winter force him back to some mininof 
camp, there to wait for the time when it will be safe 
for him again to take up his work. The money he 
earns in town is used in purchasing his material 
when he leaves ; or perhaps some richer friend 
furnishes the cash, expecting as reward a share in 
whatever may be discovered. 

When the prospector has found the object of his 
search, there is great joy. For himself and those 

41 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 43 

who have helped him, he at once claims as much 
land in the most promising location, as is allowed 
by law. On his return to his friends, the g-ood 
news cannot lono; be held secret. Then there is a 
rush to follow him. 

Men in crowds leave their stores, trades, and pro- 
fessions for the new fields. Those who cannot go, 
give funds to those who can. Claims are staked 
out in all directions around the first one ; sometimes 
they overlap each other, and often two or three are 
located on the same ground. Then come jiersons 
who erect near by houses, stores, churches, and 
theatres, and in a few weeks, where there has been 
only the wilderness, a thriving city rises as if by 
magic. 

Columbus was a prospector. Across the sea he 
sailed in quest of treasure. His outfit was furnished 
by the king and queen of Spain. The land he 
found, with all it contained, he claimed for their 
majesties and himself. When he returned, the 
news could not be kej^t from spreading. Then, as 
men with frantic haste rush into the mountains to 
share the benefit of some miner's lucky strike, so 
those who heard the great tidinos of Columbus were 
themselves eager to visit these new lands, and other 
rulers were glad to send explorers to find posses- 
sions and riches, as had Ferdinand and Isabella. 



EAKLY AMERICAN HISTORY 45 

Year by year more colonies were established, 
more territory was claimed, and like the mining- city 
in the mountains, here rose a mighty nation — even 
to-day a source of wonder and amazement to Euro- 
pean countries. 

In his later voyages Columbus discovered the 
coast of South America near the Orinoco river, and 
explored the south side of the Gulf of Mexico, but 
he never set foot on North America, and he died 
believing- that he had found Asia. Amerigfo Ves- 
pucci, sailing from Florence at the beginning of 
the sixteenth century, probably was the first to 
realize that a new world had been brought to light ; 
unjustly the continent was called America, after his 
first name. 

Events followed rapidly. Balboa planted a 
Spanish colony on the Isthmus of Darien, and cross- 
ing the narrow neck of land, was the first to gaze 
on the Pacific ocean. Ponce de Leon, another 
Spaniard, old as well as rich, landed on the coast of 
Florida, where fifty years later were laid the foun- 
dations of St. Augustine, the oldest city in the 
United States. His mission was to find a fountain 
the water from whicli would bring back youth, but 
he searched in vain, and finally he was killed by an 
Indian's arrow. Magellan, a Portuguese, but sent 
out by Spain, sailed across the Atlantic, through 



46 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the strait now bearing his name and thence west- 
ward across the Pacific to the Phihppine Islands. 
There he died, but one of his ships, continuing the 
journey, passed the Cape of Good Hope and again 
reached Spain — the first vessel to go around the 
world and prove beyond dispute that it is a sphere. 

In 1539 came De Soto, brave and dauntless. 
North from Florida he marched into South Carolina, 
and west to the Mississippi at a point nearly opposite 
the mouth of the Arkansas River. Thence his 
band sailed down the Mississippi to the gulf and 
east to the Spanish colonies. 

Sad is the tale of De Soto. With pomp and 
splendor he set forth. On the bank of the Missis- 
sippi he died, sorrowful and discouraged because he 
had not found an empire rich in gold, and his body 
was buried beneath the water. Yet when you look 
at the vast territory he explored, you will see that 
he achieved fame and success far beyond his power 
to realize. 

Meanwhile France had not been idle. Verraz- 
zani boldly skirted the coast from Delaware to New- 
foundland. Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence 
river to the present sites of Montreal and Quebec. 
Explorers sent out by Coligni, the Protestant 
admiral of France, attempted, but unsuccessfully, 
to plant colonies in Carolina and Florida. Near 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



47 




SERASTTAN CABOT. 



the besflnnino- of the seventeenth 
century, Cham2)lain gave atten- 
tion to the country around the 
St. Lawrence river, and then be- 
gan the power of France in the 
northeast, where her customs and 
language still are dear to a people 
who for years have been under 
English rule. 

England, too, was not slow to 
seize the opportunity. On June 24, 1497, John 
Cabot sighted the coast of Labrador, the real dis- 
covery of the mainland of America. A few years 
later his son, Sebastian Cabot, sailed from Maine to 
Cape Hatteras, the first European to trace this coast. 
Frobisher's voyages resulted in little save the bring- 
ing back of shiploads of dirt containing mica instead 
of gold. Sir Francis Drake, like Magellan, rounded 
South America and passed up the Pacific coast as 
far as Oregon. 

At first, the attempts of England to obtain a 
foothold met with disaster. Humphrey Gilbert, 
sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, reached New- 
foundland, but mistaking glittering dirt for silver 
he abandoned all thought of establishing a colony, 
and on the return trip, of his five vessels all but 
one were lost. A second expedition dispatched by 



48 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



Raleigh became frightened and 
was taken back by Drake on his 
homeward voyage. A third, on 
tlie Island of Roanoke, off the 
coast of Xorth Carolina, where 
on Ang-ust 18, 1587, was born 
the first white child, Virginia 
Dare, met a fate unknown. 
Tims it continued until on 
May 13, 1607, a permanent colony was planted at 
Jamestown, Virginia, the oldest English settlement 
in the United States. Then came the Pilgrims, a 
name which will be dear as long as our country 
lasts. Driven from their homes by religious perse- 
cution, here they sought refuge, and on December 
22, 1620, in the ice and snow of winter, they 
landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts Bay. 

The Dutch, too, had their part in the opening of 
the new world. In 1609 Henry Hudson entered 
New York Bay and sailed up the mighty river 
which since has borne his name. Soon a small 
post was established on Manhattan Island, the 
beginning of what is now New York City. From 
this point, north and south, along the coast and up 
the Hudson, the Dutch traded and although ridi- 
culed by France and England, laid claim to the 
surrounding territory. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 49 

So the beginning of the seventeenth century 
finds the French in the northeast, the Spanish in 
the southeast, and between them the Enghsh and 
the Dutch. 

This is but a simple outHne. In future chapters 
we shall follow the footsteps of some of these hardy 
explorers and study the customs of the early colo- 
nists ; their peculiar laws and ways of living ; and 
the wars they had with each other and with the 
savage tribes by which they were surrounded. We 
shall see how the influences under which they were 
raised in the old world followed them into the new, 
and have extended down to even the present time. 



FIRST VOYAGE TO THE PHILIPPINES. 




MAGELLAN. 



In the preceding chapter the 
bare statement has been made 
that Mag-eUan sailed from Spain, 
around South America, to the 
Philijjpines, and that one of his 
ships, ijroceeding westward, 
again reached Spain. But this 
gives no idea of the pluck and 
bravery, the determination and 
fortitude of the strange man, or of his marvellous 
voyage. 

We who travel in magnificent steamers from con- 
tinent to continent, often fail to appreciate the perils 
encountered and the difficulties overcome by those 
who made such journeys in times of old, when con- 
ditions were so different. In boats in which we 
scarcely would dare to venture out of sight of land, 
men once sailed across strange oceans and into path- 
less seas, without any possible means of knowing 
when or where the voyage would end. Yet, tor- 
tured by hunger and plagued by thirst, they never 
60 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 51 

turned back while there remained a single vessel 
with a patched sail to catch a breeze and bear them 
onward. 

Let us keep these facts in mind when in imagina- 
tion we pass with Magellan's fleet out from the 
sunny harbor o£ the ancient city of Seville, and fol- 
low it through three long years until at last one 
shattered but triumphant ship again anchors on the 
coast of Spain. 

Magellan's object was to reach Asia ; for even 
when it was realized that Columbus had found a new 
continent, the rulers of Europe were not satisfied. 
They still desired a short water route to China and 
India. So expeditions were planned to sail around 
the northern and southern extremities of America, 
and across the new ocean, knowledge of which had 
been brought by Balboa. 

The first fleet to cross the Atlantic had been sent 
by Spain because the King of Portugal had turned 
a deaf ear to Columbus. Now the first ship to sail 
through the southern strait into the Pacific was to 
be fitted out by the same nation, because the Portu- 
guese king had not learned the lesson which the 
glory won by Columbus for Spain should have 
taught. 

When Ferdinand Magellan, a bold and able Por- 
tuguese sailor, sought the aid of his king in equip- 



52 EARLY AMKHICAN HISTORY 

ping a fleet to try the southern passage to Asia, he 
met with no encouragement, and, like Cohimbus, 
turned to Spain. There his requests were granted. 
While the voyage does not directly affect the settle- 
ment of the United States, the tale of the first white 
man to reach our new possessions in the Philippines 
will ever be of interest to all Americans. 

Ferdinand Magellan was born in Sabrosa, Portu- 
gal, about 1480. Of noble family, brave, impulsive, 
romantic, and withal deeply religious, he began life 
in times which well might stir men's blood and 
arouse the coldest to action. He was yet a boy, 
serving as page to the Queen, when Columbus re- 
turned from his first voyage. Waving flags and 
fluttering pennons, braying trumpets and clashing 
cymbals, announced the glad tidings that the east 
had been reached by sailing west. 

As to the sound of whistlino; fife and throbbing; 
drums our blue clad heroes march with even tread 
up and down the city streets, wdiat American boy 
does not long for a soldier's life and the excitement 
of darinof feats and combat in foreign lands? Thus 
four hundred years ago the boys of Portugal im- 
bibed the spirit of adventure and conquest with the 
very air they breathed. Among them was Magellan, 
whose dreams were to come true. 

Up to the close of the fifteenth century, India 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 53 

had been reached by way of the Mediterranean Sea 
and a long overland journey. Then, in 1497, Vasco 
da Gama doubled the southern point of Africa, called 
the Cape of Good Hope, and his vessels, wafted by 
the gentle trade winds of the Indian Ocean, reached 
the country of fragrant woods and spices. 

Magellan, however, after a voyage to the West 
Indies in 1509, made up his mind that South 
America extended towards the west and that, sailing 
around its southern point, he could reach the riches 
of the East by a water route much shorter than that 
around the Cape of Good Hope. As to distance, 
he was greatly mistaken ; but how the rest of his 
plan was realized we now shall see. 

The King of Portugal had refused to grant 
Magellan a pension asked on account of a wound, 
received in his country's service in a war with the 
Moors, and which had left him lame for life. Stung 
by this base ingratitude, and despairing of obtaining 
help for his schemes from such a monarch, he de- 
parted for Spain. The wound to his body had 
healed, but the one in his heart forever rankled, and 
from that time on he and his descendants foreswore 
the country which had given him birth. 

In Spain the lame sailor received a hearty wel- 
come. Kino- Charles V. was o-lad indeed to secure 
his services, and listened with approval to his plans. 



54 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The ships for the venture were fitted out in the 
land-locked harbor of Seville, the proudest city in 
all prond Spain, crowned with glittering minarets 
and lofty towers, with its grand cathedral and wealth 
of churches to which sea-farinof men so oft betook 
themselves to say before some sacred shrine, a silent 
prayer for success and safe return. 

There were five vessels, the " Trinidad," the 
" Conception," the " San Antonio," the " Victoria," 
and the " Santiago," familiar names which to-day 
mark the trail of the Spaniard through this conti- 
nent. Well equipped they were with rope and mast, 
with sail and spar. The armament was heavy for 
those days and in the holds were stored powder and 
ball. 

Two hundred and seventy men comprised the 
company and fortunate it was that among them 
there were two noble souls, ever staunch friends of 
Magellan. One was Pigafetta, an Italian sculptor, 
who had joined that he might see the strange sights 
of unknown lands and seas ; the other was Mesquita, 
who was destined to be brought back to Spain by 
mutineers and confined in a dungeon until, as you 
shall see, a single ship returned victorious, but with- 
out its leader. 

Tn August, 1519, the fleet set sail, taking its 
course southward along the coast of Africa to the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 55 

Canary Islands, and thence west and south past the 
Cape Verde Islands, across the equator, to the coast 
of South America. 

Early in the voyage Magellan's troubles com- 
menced. Carthag-ena, captain of the San Antonio, 
openly rebelled and Gomez, its pilot, showed signs 
of the bitter feeling which afterwards caused him 
to desert with his vessel ; for he himself had desired 
to lead such an expedition, and he never forgave 
Magellan for superseding him in the confidence of 
the Spanish king. 

Magellan, however, ruled with a firm hand. 
Carthagena was removed from the captaincy, and 
Mesquita was put in his place. Gomez was com- 
pelled, for the time, to conceal his feelings. 

In the bow of Magellan's ship a lantern was 
hung at night to mark the course which all unques- 
tioningly must take. Thus, night after night, 
month after month, through rolling waves or glassy 
calm, under star-set skies or the storm clouds' 
canopy, 'mid perfumed breeze from tropic shores or 
freezing blasts from icy realms, a lantern's feeble 
but constant ray traced a path around the world. 

The winter of 1519-20 was spent along the coast 
of Brazil. Flocks of brilliant parrots, at times 
almost obscuring the light of the sun, flew scream- 
inof over the masts. In the dense woods, crowds of 

o ' 



66 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

chattering monkeys swung from tree to tree. On 
every hand were strange forms of animal and vege- 
table life, and the curious Pigafetta lived in ecstasy. 

Many natives, too, Magellan and his companions 
met ; hideous men and women with tatooed breast, 
and pierced lips, ears and nostrils, some of whom 
were not averse to a meal of human flesh. 

In the spring, as the party proceeded southward, 
the country became more barren. Here, according 
to Pigafetta's account, they met a race of giants. 
Two of these were taken prisoners, and shortly 
afterward perished. Probably this refers to the 
inhabitants of Patagonia, noted for their size, and 
who, according to early explorers, in those days 
attained a heioht of between seven and eig-ht feet. 

In spite of discouraging indications and the cold, 
constantly increasing as they neared the Antarctic 
Circle, Magellan held to his course. But now a 
mutiny broke out. Mendoza, captain of the " Vic- 
toria," aroused the fears and superstitions of his 
sailors. Already they had encountered giants and 
cannibals. Who could tell what awaited them in 
the desolate, frozen regions they were approaching? 
Magellan, a Portuguese, cared nothing for the lives 
of Spaniards. He was luring them to certain and 
horrible death. Thus Mendoza argued, and his 
words carried conviction. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 57 

Acrain Magellan, warned by the faithful Mesquita. 
acted with promptness and energy. Mendoza was 
killed. Carthagena and a priest, who were accom- 
plices, were put on land, with a little food and 
wine. Then the fleet sailed on southward and left 
them. 

In the fall, Magellan reached the strait to this 
day bearing his name, — the Strait of Magellan. 
He sent the "Antonio," under the command of 
the faithful Mesquita, but unfortunately carrying 
Gomez as pilot, into the bay to explore. This was 
the opportunity for which Gomez had waited. He, 
too, excited the fears and jealousies of his crew. 
Under cover of clouds and darkness, Mesquita was 
placed in irons and the '* Antonio" sailed for the 
north. Carthagena and his companions were 
rescued and soon anchor was cast again in the 
harbor of Seville. 

To the kino" and his court Gomez told of terrible 
adventures, and that Magellan, rash and demented, 
had killed Mendoza, marooned Carthagena and a 
companion, and was leading his ships against the 
fierce current of a mysterious bay, to sure destruc- 
tion. Forthwith, Mesquita, as an abettor of Magel- 
lan, was cast into prison by the king, Gomez w^as 
honored, and Magellan was execrated and then 
almost forgotten. 



58 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Meanwhile, undaunted by the desertion or 
destruction of tlie "Antonio," Magellan proceeded 
west. As he entered the strait, the rushing tide 
dashed with fearful force against his ships. Around 
him were floating fields of ice and snow, over which 
swept the bitter winds of winter. To the south 
were steep and gloomy hills wdiere at night gleamed 
strange fires. To-day the country still is called 
Tierra del Fuego, Land of the Fire. 

As the vessels forced their way between the ice 
and land, the tempests grew more violent and the 
cold more intense. The very Angel of Death 
seemed to stretch forth his chilling hand and 
beckon onward. Night came down, snow filled the 
air, and the dark clouds lowered. In the prow of 
the leading ship, half revealed by the waving 
lantern's sickly glare, wrapped in a thin cloak, his 
long hair streaming in the wdnd, his face pale and 
care-worn, and in his eyes the light of prophetic 
determination, stood Magellan. What wonder that 
the shuddering, shivering sailors whispered each to 
the other, " We are lost ! He is mad ! " 

Day ever follows night ; and calm, the tempest. 
So, one morn, from a clear sky the rising sun sent 
his rays to cheer the w^eary watchers on the storm 
tossed fleet. The air became l)almy and the waves 
subsided. Joyfully Magellan and his companions 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 59 

gazed over the placid waters of the great ocean, 
first seen by Balboa, and named it " The Pacific." 
As the ships swiftly sped over the smooth surface, 
the end of the long trip seemed near at hand, and 
fame and riches within the reach of all. 

In truth, the perils had but commenced. It was 
in November, 1520, when Magellan entered the 
Pacific, and it was four months before he again 
siofhted inhabitable land. As week after week 
passed, the supply of food ran short and the drink- 
ing water became foul and ill smelling. The sailors 
lived on mouldy bread and were forced to eat the 
ox liides stored in the hold, and even their leather 
shoes and trappings. 

Their gums were swollen and bleeding, their 
eyes red and bleared. Under the equator the sun 
sent his pitiless rays straight down upon them, and 
their skins became blistered and shrivelled. At 
times they lay becalmed for days, the sails hanging 
limp against the masts, the endless expanse of 
water smooth as a mirror, each vessel as though 
anchored in place, with neither 

" Breath nor motion, 
As idle as a painted ship 
rpon a painted ocean." 

In March, 1521, land appeared above the western 
horizon. In all the history of the world never have 



60 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

suffering mariners had more cause to welcome such 
a sight. As the boats approached the shore, the 
pains of gnawing hunger and burning thirst ceased, 
and before the eyes of these brave men danced 
visions of fresh meat and fruit, of damp earth 
beneath the cooling shade of spreading trees, and 
of bubbling springs of pure water. 

Their hopes proved vain, for the fierce and war- 
like natives would not permit them to disembark. 
Bitterly disappointed, they named the islands the 
" Ladrones," the Robbers, and proceeded Avest. 
Ten days later, they reached the island of Samar 
in the Philippines. 

Now at lenofth there was rest and comfort for 
Magellan. His first act, as became the servant of 
the Christian King of Spain, was to erect a cross, 
give thanks to God, and summon the inhabitants 
to faith in Christ. Then day by day he roamed 
over these islands or coasted along the shores, visit- 
inoi; and tradino- Avith the natives. 

Fresh water and provisions were taken on board, 
and plans were made for the onward voyage to 
Spain, where honor and praise awaited. Yet the 
reward was not to come to Magellan. One day 
late in April, 1521, he suddenly was attacked 
by a treacherous tribe and a spear thrust ended 
his life. Even his body was not recovered and 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



61 



neither stone nor cross marks his last resting 
place. 

The few survivors now were ready to leave. In 
two ships, the " Victoria" and the " Trinidad," they 
passed on to the Mohiccas, or Spice Islands, which 
they reached in November. Here they stopped but 




THE PORT OF SFVITLT:. 



a brief time, and abandoned the " Trinidad." Then 
in May, 1522, they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, 
and September 6 the good ship " Victoria " cast 
anchor at Seville ! 

Great was the astonishment of the Spanish king. 
Fifteen months before, Gomez had filled his ears 
with tales of the mad Magellan butchering part of 



62 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the crew, and rushing into an icy gulf to inevi- 
table death. Poor Mesquita, the alleged abettor of 
Magellan, still languished in the dungeon. But 
here safe in the harbor lay the " Victoria," and into 
the j^alace Pigafetta proudly marched, glad to give 
a detailed story of the marvellous voyage ! 

Again the streets resounded with martial music 
and shouts of rejoicing. Mesquita was released 
and due reparation was made him for the nijustice 
done. In all Spain there were but two men whose 
hearts were heavy — Pigafetta, who ever mourned 
the untimely death of his dear friend, and Mesquita, 
who gladly would have given his own life to save 
that of his brave leader. 

Four hundred years passed away, and our Admiral 
Dewey, leading his Heet into Manila Bay, wrested 
the Philipj^ine Islands from Spanish rule. Trans- 
port after transport, laden with troops, followed 
him. Bravely our gallant boys have bared their 
breasts to the knives and bullets of a fierce foe. 
On sandy shore, by mountain stream, 'mid dense 
jungles or sun-dried fields, lie many heroes in their 
unknown graves. Peace be unto them all ; and it 
is meet that side by side with them sleeps Magellan, 
who first found these islands and first sailed around 
the world. 



VI. 




DE SOTO AND THE MISSISSIPPI. 

The early explorers on the land 
met with dangers and hardships 
equal to those encountered on the 
sea. They bravely faced the pierc- 
ing- blasts of the frozen north and 
the burning heat of the tropic 
south. With little food, scanty 
clothing and clumsy weapons, as 
lonof as there remained strenpfth to drag" one foot 
after the other, they slowly toiled over plain and 
mountain. If their course lay down a river, in 
frail canoes they patiently drifted between banks 
on which at any moment hostile savages might 
appear ; or if it lay in the other direction, day 
after day they plied the paddles, slowly forcing 
their way against the swift current. Attacked by 
Indians, suffering from sickness, misled by false re- 
ports and treacherous guides, they still pressed on 
and on, and stopped for naught save death. 

Ferdinand de Soto, the first adventurer to pene- 
trate far into the interior of the United States, is a 



63 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 65 

fair example of these intrepid men. Let us now 
learn of his life, and follow him from the time he 
sailed from Spain, as did Magellan, until he died in 
sorrow on the banks of the Mississippi, and found 
his grave beneath its flowing- waters. 

Early in the sixteenth century, Spain was full of 
bold and restless spirits who had done g'ood service 
in the war waged by the Spaniards against the Moors. 
In their excited imagination these men saw in 
America new fields where were to be gained riches 
and renown. Among such a company was Ferdinand 
de Soto, who had won for himself great fame as a 
bold soldier. Dreamin<)f of rich and maofnificent 
cities in 'the interior of Florida, he gained from 
Charles V. of Spain, permission to conquer that 
country. 

From Portugal as well as from Spain multitudes 
of men came to his standard. Every class of society 
was represented. Persons who all their lives had 
lived at ease and in luxury, sold their estates to 
purchase an equipment. They scorned hardships 
and danger, and even death itself, if they might 
follow so brave a captain. 

If we search for the ruling spirit which incited 
these men, we shall find it was not wholly the love of 
gold, nor was it altogether religious zeal. " Perils," 
says an old writer, " always exalt the poetry of life," 



66 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and this remarkable age, unfolding' as it did new 
worlds to men, gave to every enterprise the charm 
of novelty and surprise. 

With the utmost pains De Soto selected six hun- 
dred men, each one in the full strength of manhood, 
the very flower of the Peninsula. He attended per- 
sonally to their equipment. Nothing was left to 
chance, nothing was rejected because too costly. 

So does the builder of a stately ship select with 
greatest care the timbers for her keel and the live oak 
for her ribs ; inspect with keenest eye each plank 
and brace ; choose with the nicest skill the tapering 
mast of Norway pine, the cordage and the sails ; and 
send her forth complete in every part to brave the 
dangers of the northern deep. 

At last, in the spring of 1539, they sailed, com- 
mended with solemn blessing to the guardian care 
of Heaven, and bearing the hopes of Spain. They 
landed for a few days at Cuba, obtaining blood- 
hounds, and chains with which to capture and sub- 
due their enemies ; a forge on which to repair their 
arms when broken or worn out ; and swine to fatten 
on the wild maize, that they might not suffer from 
hunger. 

In June the coast of Florida was reached at Tampa 
Bay. Gay with all the glittering array of war, with 
banners streaming, amid the clangor of trumpets 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 67 

and the neighing o£ steeds, De Soto with his Httle 
army of six hundred men and about two hundred 
and twenty horses commenced the march into the 
interior. 

Twelve priests accompanied the expedition. Every 
rehgious rite was to be observed, every festival was 
to be kept with the utmost fidelity. Wherever they 



DE SOTO'S COURSE. 



stopped at night, an altar was erected and the priests 
offered their accustomed worship. 

The journey seemed to be without any fixed goal, 
but wherever the whims of the Indian guides mioht 
lead. Sometimes the soldiers' march lay through 
fields of fragrant clover and they encamped in 
groves where the trees were full of melodious birds, 



68 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

while the wild-flowers crowned the oreen sod with 
life and beauty. Again, misled ])y treacherous 
natives, they became lost in deep swamps where 
their horses and heavy cannon sank in the black 
mud, and they themselves floundered all day waist 
deep in the water ; then they were thankful if they 
could gain but a dry spot of land on which to 
make their camp for the night. 

At the end of five months they found themselves 
near Aj^palachee Bay on the southwest coast of 
Florida. Discouraged and dispirited, the soldiers 
besought De Soto to give up the expedition and 
return to Cuba. To them the land of gold had 
lost its charm and they dreamed of only the vine- 
yards and the olive groves of Spain. Thus the 
human heart is ever the most true to the thinofs it 
first learned to love, and in times of trouble turns 
to home and native land. 

Yet De Soto, a man stei'u and of few words, 
would not go back till with his own eyes he had 
seen the riches of the land ; and in the spring of 
1540 they resumed their march, stimulated by the 
story of an Indian who so 2)erfectly described the 
art of refining gold that they exclaimed, " He must 
have done it himself or else the Devil has been his 
teacher." 

They penetrated the country as far north as 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



69 



Tennessee, and finding no treasures, returned to an 
Indian village called Mobile, on the Alabama River. 
Here a new desire seized the Spaniards. For 
months they had lodged in the open air ; they were 
sick and weary. Plans Avere made to drive the 
Indians from the village and make it a restinar 
place till spring. 




ALABAMA RIV£K 



A severe and bloody battle followed. Shot from 
the cannon plowed furrows of death through the 
dense crowds of the warriors, and the charge from 
the cavalry carried terror into their ranks. Yet 
the Indians foua;ht with the courase of men 
defending their homes. The woods rang with the 
shrill war-whoop, until finally the Spaniards, terri- 



70 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

fied by the clouds of arrows from concealed foes, 
ended the contest by burning* the villag-e. The 
fight, however, was from morning till night, and 
not an Indian asked for quarter ! 

Although twenty-five hundred Indians are said 
to have been slain, the victory was dearly bought 
by De Soto. Eighteen of his little army were dead, 
and one hundred and fifty were wounded. Twelve 
horses were killed, seventy hurt. The flames which 
burnt the wigwams destroyed much of the baggage 
of the army, with all the curiosities he had gath- 
ered. There were signs also that the courage of 
the Indians was unl)roken. 

The S})aniards retreated to the western bank of 
the Yazoo and spent the winter of 15-4:0-41 in a 
deserted Indian village. In the spring, De Soto 
demanded two hundred Indians, lo carry the bag- 
gage of the army. Then the chief, angered by the 
cruelties of the Spaniards, plotted revenge. 

One night there suddenly arose the startling cry 
of '' Fire." The soldiers, half awakened, blinded 
by the smoke, groped in vain for their arms or 
rushed, stiHlng, from their cabins. Horses ran 
riderless through the lurid blaze. Everywhere was 
the shouting of men, the war-whoop of the Indians, 
and the crackling of the Hames. On every side 
" fire answered fire." 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 71 

When at the break of clay De Soto mustered his 
men, he found that fourteen had been killed, and 
that many of the living were without clothing or 
arms. Fifty-seven horses and three hundred swine 
had been slauohtered. 

The disaster was more severe than that which 
had befallen them at Mobile. Yet so wonderful 
was their spirit, that when a week afterward the 
Indians renewed the attack, the broken weapons 
had been repaired or replaced, the thinned ranks 
had closed up, and the dauntless array of men 
formed ready for battle. When the line of march 
for the west was taken up again, we can imagiue 
that there was less of enthusiasm, but no less of 
courage ; less of joy, but no less of hope. 

Seven days brought them to the Mississippi near 
the mouth of the Arkansas. It was a day in the early 
spring of 1541, when De Soto, riding at the head 
of the column, beheld for the first time the rolling- 
flood. As rank after rank of toil-worn, battle- 
tried soldiers halted upon the high bluff and gazed 
upon the river, swollen by the melting of the 
northern snows, they gave voice to no shouts, but 
stood in deep, expressive silence. Then, as from 
one great heart, a mighty cry of joy burst forth ; 
and as tlie echoes died away over the dancing 
waters, from out the western bank a fleet of two 



72 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

hundred Indian canoes shot into the middle of 
the stream. 

Along- either side of each canoe stood a line of 
warriors, decked out with feathers and war paiut, 
while the chief reposed under a canopy of matSs 
woven, with all an Indian's art, from reeds and 
rushes. They rowed in utter silence, yet with 
wondrous skill. A thousand great white plumes 
streamed in the wind ; a thousand hroad, smooth 
paddles glistened in the sun. The Spaniards 
grasped their arms, ready for war or peace, but the 
natives, offering them presents of fish and bread, 
made no hostile sions. 

o 

After a month spent on the east bank, De Soto 
crossed the river and penetrated at least two hundred 
miles north and west. The spring- of 1542 found 
the little band foUovvinof the Red River throuoh 
bayous and canebrakes, down to its junction with 
the Mississippi. They had given up their search 
for gold, and were arixious for only tidings of the 
sea. Horsemen were now sent out, who reported 
the river impassable. To go back was certain death, 
to go forward was impossible, to remain where they 
were was starvation. 

Here despondency, like the black mantle of a 
starless night, fell on De Soto. A burning fever 
attacked him, and his body, worn out by care 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 73 

and crushed by disappointment, had no power to 
resist the disease. He called his companions 
about him, appointed his successor, and died, as 
has many another ambitious man, of a broken 
heart. 

His companions, anxious that the weakness caused 
by the death of their leader should not be known to 
the Indians, cut down a huge tree from beside the 
river, and fashioned it into a coffin. They placed 
in it the body of their chief, wrapped in his military 
cloak, with the crucifix on his breast. The priests 
chanted over it the solemn service for the dead ; 
and then, with no light but the silent stars, with no 
music but the dash of the sobbing' waves, they bore 
it to the deepest part of the channel and sank it 
beneath the waters. 

Thus the mighty river became at once De Soto's 
tomb and monument — a tomb so deep and silent, 
that neither the wild beast nor the wilder savaoe 
ever forced it to reveal its secret ; a monument 
more lasting and more worthy of his fame than all 
the wealth of which he dreamed could rear to his 
memory. 

When De Soto died, the courage of his men died 
with him. They wandered west to Mexico and 
again returned to the river. There, building seven 
frail boats, they gave themselves to the mercy of 



74 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the water, only desiring to see once more the faces 
of their countrymen. 

In forty days they reached a Spanish settlement 
on the Gulf of Mexico. An old historian says that 
all the inhabitants of the villao-e were touched with 

n 

pity at beholding- this forlorn remnant of the gallant 
band of the renowned De Soto, — blackened, shriv- 
elled, haggard, half naked, clad in only the skins of 
animals, and looking more like wild beasts than 
human beinos. 

The woeful story of hardships and poverty which 
these men told put an end to all attempts on the 
part of Spain to penetrate the mysteries surround- 
ing the mighty Mississippi. A century was yet to 
elapse before the white man should possess the 
secret. The hour and the man were coming, but 
they were not yet. 

In the character of De Soto and other Spanish 
explorers, there were many things to condemn, but 
there w^ere also many things to soften our judgment. 
If they were cruel and haughty, it was the fault of 
their nation. If they were greedy of gold, it was 
the weakness of our common nature. If they were 
superstitious and bigoted, they were loyal to their 
sovereign and their church. Wherever they went, 
they planted the flag of S2)ain and the Cross of 
their faith. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 75 

Let the years that have passed since their day 
fall like a broad mantle of charity over their deeds, 
while we admire the dauntless courage and the tire- 
less energy of those whose wonderful deeds made 
Spain for nearly three centuries mistress of some of 
the fairest portions of our continent. 



VII. 
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. 

Nothing in the history of the world is of more 
absorbing interest than the accounts of the men who 
first penetrated the unknown and marked out paths 
for others to follow, by land and sea. The stories 
of Magellan and De Soto have been related in full, 
not as exceptions, but as examples of what has been 
done by many. If the last two chapters have enter- 
tained you, in other books in any library you will 
find true tales of additional adventures, just as thrill- 
ing and as tragic, and inscribed by abler pens. Now 
we must turn our attention to the early attempts, 
not to reach out into the interior, but to plant per- 
manent settlements along- the coast. 

As Columbus landed on one of the Bahama 
Islands, naturally the first efforts at colonization 
were in the territory in that vicinity. It was on 
Easter Sunday, 1512, when the Spaniards under the 
leadership of Ponce de Leon discovered the long, 
low coast of the main land west of the Bahamas. 
Because they found it to be an exceedingly pleasant 
country of green woods and fragrant flowers, and 

7G 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 77 

in honor of the clay, in their language Pascua 
Florida, they called it Florida. Eight years later 
they tried to conquer the country, but were driven 
back by the natives and De Leon received a wound 
from which he afterwards died. 

In April, 1528, Narvaez, whom Charles V. of 
Spain had appointed governor of Florida, with three 
hundred men, landed in Tampa Bay. He did not 
establish a settlement, however, because the savages, 
who showed small lumps of gold and told of a mighty 
city to the north, lured him and his companions 
into a disastrous trip inland. 

For months they wandered through gloomy 
swamps and deep morasses, finding only a dirty 
Indian village instead of a large city, and not a sign 
of gold. One day they would be compelled to swim 
a swollen river, and the next to march for hours 
through deep mud or stagnant water, in constant 
fear of snakes, alligators and the no less dangerous 
natives. 

At length the survivors again reached the gulf, 
where they hoped to find their vessels, but not one 
was in sight. Hastily they built a few boats and 
put to sea, intending to reach a Spanish settle- 
ment in Mexico. Misfortune still followed them 
and a storm cast them, ship-wrecked, on the coast. 
Again they wandered here and there, perishing by 



78 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

drowning, disease, starvation, and from the attacks 
of the hostile savages. Finally, of all the company, 
four wretched men arrived at a Spanish colony on 
the far-off Pacific. 

The next Spaniard to visit Florida was De Soto, 
of whose journey you have already heard. He left 
behind him nothing but the graves of the dead. It 
was not until 1565 that the Spaniards, under the 
command of Pedro Melendez, obtained a foothold 
in Florida and founded a settlement which has en- 
dured unto this day. 

Melendez was a soldier, wicked and bloodthirsty, 
and was under fine as a criminal at the very time he 
set forth from Spain. His commission was from 
Philip II. It instructed him to explore the coast of 
Florida within three years and to establish a colony 
of not less than five hundred souls. For this the 
king was to pay him an annual salary, and grant 
him a large tract of land. The fleet left Spain in 
July, 1565, and reached Florida in the latter part of 
Auo'ust. 

On the 8th of September, Melendez performed 
the one solitary act in all his career for which he 
deserves honorable remembrance. On that day he 
laid the foundation of St. Augustine, the oldest city 
in the United States. 

According to account, the scene must have been 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 79 

grand, the ceremony impressive. In long proces- 
sion, led by the priests clad in somber robes and 
holding aloft the sacred crucifix, round and round 
the site of the future city, marched the gallant 
Spaniards. The sunlight glittered on their armor 
of polished steel. Streamers and pennons of scarlet 
and black fluttered in the breeze, and overhead the 



^^^L 






^' ^ 


ta 


■HR.V flS 1 


|iii 


m^ -•■Jl^H 



A CORNER IN OLD ST. AUGUSTINE. 



yellow flag of Spain proudly waved. Then in a 
circle all knelt with bared heads, while the solemn 
mass was said and the benediction was pronounced. 
In the background, naked Indians gazed in awe 
on the strange actions of these mysterious white 
men who had come so suddenly among them. Above, 
the dazzling blue of the southern sky stretched down 



80 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

on the west to touch the green of the forest, and on 
the east to meet the foam-crowned waves of the sea. 
A holy calm seemed to brood over earth and air 
and ocean. There was no outward sign of the 
bloody deeds and the acts of treachery and ven- 
o-eance so soon to follow. 

It soon developed that in his expedition to Florida, 
Melendez had a purpose deeper than colonization or 
exploration. He was an ardent Catholic and had 
formed the plan of restoring himself to the good 
graces of King Philip II. by destroying a company 
of Huguenots, Protestant refugees from France, who 
a short time before had settled in that neighborhood. 
During the period of which you are now reading, 
there was a spirit of most bitter hatred between 
Catholics and Protestants in the old world. In both 
Spain and France the Catholics were in power, and 
many of them, inflamed with religious zeal, thought 
it an act pleasing in the sight of God to torture or 
destroy those of the opposite faith. 

To escape persecution in France, in 1562 a colony 
of Protestants, under the leadership of John Ribault, 
sailed for America. They settled near Port Royal, 
South Carolina, calling the fort, which was there 
erected, Carolina, in honor of the King of France, 
Charles IX. Ribault soon went back to France, 
leaving a few men to hold the fort, and promising 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 81 

to return with more emigrants and provisions. 
This he did not do, and those he had abandoned 
became discouraged. Embarking in a rude boat, 
they sailed away and finally were taken on board 
an English vessel. 

Two years later, another colony o£ Huguenots, 
under the leadership of Laudonniere, set forth from 
France. This was one year before the coming of 
Melendez. They settled on the St. John's River 
about fifteen miles from St. Augustine, where a 
fort was erected. At first these settlers were dissat- 
isfied and vicious, but near the close of the year 
Ribault arrived from France with supplies, and the 
prospect for the future improved. Apparently 
France had obtained a permanent foothold in 
Florida. 

These were the men whom Melendez now plotted 
to destroy. After founding St. Augustine as a 
base of operations, he did not long delay action. 
On the 17th of September, with five hundred men, 
he marched to the attack. His army was well 
equipped with fire arms and pikes, and carried a 
plentiful supply of bread and wine. Led by two 
Indian guides, on the next day they arrived within 
a short distance of the French fort. 

Here they remained all night, standing waist 
deep in water ; they lay in ambush all the follow- 



82 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

iiig day, also. Early in the morning of the third 
day, they suddenly appeared before the fort. There 
had been a heavy rain a few hours before. The 
air was still dark with mists and clouds, which con- 
cealed their approach. The surprise was complete, 
and most of the garrison were still in bed. 

The half naked bodies of the startled Frenchmen 
were easy marks for the guns and pikes of the 
Spaniards. Though many fell on their knees and 
begged for mercy, it was not granted, and one 
hundred and forty Avere butchered. About three 
hundred managed to escape, some to French ships 
in the harbor and some into the forest. Not a 
single Spaniard was injured. Returning to St. 
Augustine, Melendez gave thanks because it had 
been o-ranted to him to serve the Lord in the 
destruction of the French heretics. 

There was little time for him to rest, for the work 
of slaughter was not completed. On the 26th of 
September, Indians brought word that a French 
vessel had been wrecked on the coast near by and 
that there were also a great many Christians on the 
St. John's River, not far away. Melendez, taking a 
few soldiers with him, marched down the bank until 
at night he descried, across the water, the fires of 
the Frenchmen. When morning came, he con- 
cealed his men behind certain sand hills and 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 83 

approaching, signalled to the French to come to 
him. A man immediately swam over, and negotia- 
tions for surrender were commenced. 

The Frenchmen were in a most deplorable condi- 
tion. For eight days they had not eaten bread, 
and they were weak in body and spirit. When 
they were told that their fort had been taken and 
their comrades slain, they demanded for themselves 
a guarantee of safety if they should surrender, 
saying that there was no war between Spain and 
France. To this Melendez replied that he would 
wage war against them with fire and sword, as he 
had come to establish the Catholic faith in Florida. 
" But if you will surrender yourselves and arms 
and trust to my mercy," said he, " you may do so, 
and I will act towards you as God may prompt 
me." 

This was not a very comforting assurance, but it 
was decided to trust to the mercy of Melendez 
rather than risk almost certain death by starvation. 
So the French to the number of over two hundred, 
surrendered, and with their arms tied behind their 
backs, they were marched, two by two, towards St. 
Augustine. As they approached the city, the shrill 
blast from a trumpet was heard. This was the 
signal agreed upon, and instantly the Spanish 
soldiers sprang upon the bound and defenceless 



84 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

prisoners. With the exception of a few who claimed 
to be Catholics, all were murdered. 

Still the bloody work was not ended. A few 
days later the same Indians informed Melendez that 
more Christians had oathered where the others had 
been found. His zeal had not lessened nor had his 
heart softened. Immediately he went forth with 
one hundred and fifty men to capture these heretics. 
Again there were messages back and forth across 
the river. Finally, on condition that they should 
be mercifully treated, two hundred, including Cap- 
tain Ribault, surrendered. 

As was the case with the former captives, their 
hands were bound behind their backs and they were 
marched towards St. Augustine. After proceeding 
a short distance, Melendez ordered them slain, and 
none were spared except the fifers, the drummers, the 
trumpeters, and four who were Catholics. " They 
are made of earth," said this pitiless man, " and to 
earth they must return. Twenty years more or less 
make no consequence." Thus ended the attempt of 
the French to settle in Florida. 

When word of these horrible massacres reached 
France, there was a great cry for vengeance. At 
first it was supposed that an expedition would be 
sent at public expense, but three years passed with- 
out action. Then a private gentleman, Dominique 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 85 

de Gourges, took it upon himself to avenge the 
murder of his countrymen. At his own cost he 
fitted out two small vessels, and one tender, which 
could be propelled by oars if it should be neces- 
sary to ascend a river and the wind should fail. 
One hundred soldiers, and fifty mariners who could 
fight if required, were gathered together. Then 
taking on board provisions for one year, the little 
fleet set sail, and after a tedious and tempestuous 
voyage arrived at the mouth of the St. John's 
river. 

As they sailed boldly by the harbor, the French- 
men saluted the Spanish fort, thus giving the im- 
pression that they themselves were Spaniards ; and 
proceeding northward along the coast, at nightfall 
they cast anchor. The next day De Gourges landed 
and had a long conference with the Indians who had 
gathered along the shore. To his delight, he found 
them much incensed against the Spaniards, and will- 
ing to join him in his designs. 

As Melendez had put to death three separate 
bands of Frenchmen, so De Gourges quickly de- 
stroyed three Spanish forts. In the first, the unsus- 
pecting Spaniards were at dinner, when, some two 
hundred paces ofF, the Frenchmen and Indians were 
discovered advancing on the run. Before any de- 
fence could be organized, the Spaniards were over- 



86 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

come, and the entire garrison, to the number of 
sixty, was put to death. 

Then attention was turned to another fort, upon 
the opposite side of the river. This, likewise, easily 
succumbed to the fierce onslaught by the French, 
and all the inmates, save fifteen who were reserved 
to be hung, were killed at once. 

These two captures were made on the evening of 
the Sunday after Easter, 1568. The third and 
largest fort was taken by stratagem. A small 
number of French and Indians displayed themselves 
on the edge of the woods nearby, and part of the 
garrison made a sortie. De Gourges threw some 
troops between them and the fort, and cut them 
down. Those within the walls, seeing what had 
happened to their companions, abandoned all hope 
of resistance or mercy, and fled. 

De Gourges did not try to hold the positions which 
he had seized. He had comparatively few men, and 
at any time he might be surrounded by a superior 
force of Spaniards. Over the bodies of the dead 
Frenchmen, Melendez had placed this printed no- 
tice, " I do this not to Frenchmen, but to Lutherans." 
Now, on a pine board above the bodies of the Span- 
iards, with a hot iron De Gourges traced these words, 
" I do this not to Spaniards nor to sailors, but to 
traitors, robbers, and murderers." Then he sailed 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 87 

back to France, satisfied with having avenged the 
savage butchery of his countrymen. 

Amid such scenes of treachery and bloodshed 
were the first colonies established in the new world. 
For Melendez, no excuse can be offered save that he 
lived in a time when men were harsh and cruel, and 
when religion was spread by the sword. The ven- 
geance exacted by De Gourges was terrible, but the 
provocation was great, and in those days of religious 
strife, blow ever must be met by blow. The final 
result was favorable to Spain, for no Frenchmen re- 
mained in Florida, and in the future none tried to 
settle in that ill-fated territory. 

The Southern peninsula remained under Spanish 
rule till, in the general settlement between France, 
Spain and England at the close of the French and 
Indian war, it was ceded to the British crown. At 
the end of the Revolution it was ceded back to 
Spain, from whom it was purchased by the United 
States in 1819. 




z 
< 

O 



Ro<iiioke I 



JAMESTOWN ANIl VICINITY. 



VIII. 
THE OLDEST ENGLISH COLONY. 

The tale of the early clays in Florida is one of 
treachery, cruelty, and revenge. Now we come to 
the oldest English colony, Virginia, so called for 
Elizabeth, the virgin queen, in whose reign the 
expeditions were sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, as 
told in a preceding chapter. Here, too, we shall 
find much of sadness and suffering, but nothing 
akin to the bloody combats which took place, far- 
ther south, between the Spanish and the French. 

The name Virginia now calls to mind a land of 
peace and plenty : the large plantation house, half 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 89 

concealed by surrounding trees and rose bushes, 
with its broad veranda and numerous outbuildings ; 
lofty halls and spacious parlors ringing with the 
joyful voices of fair maidens and gallant youths ; 
fields green with tobacco or white with cotton; 
woods where the quail whistles and the turkey calls, 
where the fat opossum hangs from the limb and 
the squirrel lea2)s from branch to branch ; rivers 
full of fish and bays well stocked with oysters — a 
place designed for the comfortable abode of man. 

When the white men came from over the sea, 
nature had done much for old "'^^irginia, but even 
nature cannot do everything. She has her limit, 
and man must work with thought for the future. 
This is a lesson which those who first tried to settle 
Virginia had to learn by bitter experience. 

The early ships brought noblemen instead of 
laborers, artisans and farmers. The hands of these 
dandies were more accustomed to the bejewelled 
snuff box than to the plow or the ax, and their 
shapely forms were clad in broadcloth and dainty 
ruffles not to be disgraced by contact with the soil. 

Instead of raising corn for food, and building 
houses for protection in winter, they wasted the 
precious days of spring and summer in laziness, in 
disputes and bickerings, or in useless search for 
mines of gold. Then, when provisions were gone 



90 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and the cold came, there was sickness, disaster, and 
death. More than once the few survivors tried to 
abandon this hmd, which needed only the right 
kind o£ treatment to return all man can ask. 

The first settlement was made at Jamestown, 
May 13th, 1607. In the early days there stands 
pre-eminent the name of one man — not a fop nor a 




CAPT. JOHN SMITH. 



dandy, but plain, earnest, energetic John Smith. 
Although less than thirty years old, he had travelled 
in France, Italy, and Egypt ; had fought against the 
Mohammedans and had been taken captive by them 
and sold as a slave in Constantinople ; having escaped 
by killing his guards, he had engaged in a war 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 91 

with the Moors in North Africa, and had returned 
to his native land to sail with the first expedition 
to Virofinia. 

It would seem that the worth of such a man 
should have been apparent at once to the rest of 
the company. This was not the case. On the 
voyage, he was charged with conspiracy to murder 
those in command and make himself king of the 
new possessions. Arrest followed, and he was 
landed in chains. At his trial, the foolishness of 
the accusations against him was evident, and he was 
released, but he was not chosen to any position of 
trust or prominence. 

Smith, accustomed to activity, and finding his 
services were not desired in the settlement, started 
on an exploring trip. With a few companions, he 
sailed up the St. James River as far as the present 
site of Richmond. Here he encountered a laro-e 
Indian village under the rule of Powhatan, with 
whom he had a friendly interview. 

When Smith got back to the coast, he found 
affairs in a bad condition. Little was beino- done 
to prepare for cold weather, and the colonists 
were frightened and discouraged. A deadly sick- 
ness broke out. The silence of the nijrht was 
broken by the moans of the sick and suffering; 
the days were made gloomy by the constant burial 



92 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the dead. By fall, half the comj'any had 
perished. 

Then civil dissension arose. It was even dis- 
covered that those in command were guilty of steal- 
ing from the scanty store of provisions and were 
attempting to escape to England. In this emergency 
the people turned to John Smith, and he was elected 
President. 

Smith was not a man to hesitate. He decided 
what must be done, and promptly did it. First 
the fort was put in a better condition to resist 
the elements and possible attacks from savages. 
The cold now had stopped the scourge of sick- 
ness, but something must be done at once to 
obtain food. So Smith boldly marched a squad 
of men into an Indian encampment, and when 
the natives refused to trade, took by force the 
corn he needed, leaving knives and hatchets in 
exchano^e. 

This firmness had a good effect, for the savages 
soon made peace with the colonists ; and other tribes, 
with whom the harvest had been abundant, of their 
own accord offered a share of their stores. Thus 
winter found the little town a{)parently in a fairly 
prosperous condition. The health of the commu- 
nity had been restored, the supply of corn seemed 
plenty, the savages were friendly, and, not least of 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 93 

all, the settlers had over them a firm governor whom 
they could trust. 

When winter came, Smith could not stand the 
monotony of settlement life. With four or five 
companions and two Indian guides he went up the 
Chickahominy River as far as it would float a boat, 
and then proceeded on foot. The ignorance of early 
colonists reoardina" the extent of this continent is 
strikingly illustrated by the expectations on this 
trip. It was thought that by ascending the river, 
the Pacific Ocean soon could be reached. 

How surprised Smith's comrades would have been 
could some one have told them of the Alleghany 
Mountains ; the valleys of the Ohio, the Mississippi, 
and the Missouri; the western plains; the Rocky 
Mountains ; the deserts ; the Sierras ; and the Pacific 
slope ; all of which must be crossed before they 
could reach that coast explored by their country- 
man. Sir Francis Drake. 

On this trip Smith nearly lost his life. Surprised 
by hostile Indians, his companions were killed and 
he himself was made prisoner. Finally he was taken 
before King Powhatan on the York River ; and 
here, if at all, occurred his dramatic rescue by the 
princess Pocahontas. 

As the story goes, the chief sentenced the captive 
to death. Already Smith's body had been stretched 







- rOW^HATAJSr v 



n 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



95 




POCAHONTAS. 



upon the ground, and his 
head had heen placed 
upon a block. Beside 
him stood a brave with 
uplifted club, ready at 
the expected signal to 
dash out his brains, when 
Pocahontas, rushing in, 
placed herself in front 
of him, and begged his | ~T^ 
life, or else to share his 
death. 

Picture the scene to yourselves. On a throne-like 
seat covered with rich furs, at one end of the 
large tent, sits the chief, his features stern, his dark 
eyes gazing fixedly into the distance, his form im- 
movable, and a crown of eagle's feathers gently 
waving to and fro on his close shaven head. Form- 
ing a circle in front of him sit the old men of the 
tribe, wrapped in their blankets ; and standing back 
of them, the painted, half-naked savages pack the 
enclosure to its very walls. 

Before them, flat on his back, bound hand and 
foot, his head on a log of wood, lies John Smith. 
His face is pale with the knowledge of approaching 
death, but his eyes show no fear. With club half 
raised, close to him towers a powerful Indian, his 



Q/ic Ccuntrcy wee now callxirqtxLi^ Dcainnctfi at Ca.pe Heury Jmant 
from- Kfa.noa.cl;. ^o miles, wki-re was iS*. Wabep JRaJeions virini.tTton..' 
ani Irccaii/e thcvior/c dijtef very littujrom ikem. of Tcrwh-^ta.n in.. any 

tlnna,I hnve mfirtcd tkujefijurcs in tntt -place ice aufl dftnc convcnicitcv. 




EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 97 

eyes gleaming with brutal joy as he awaits the sig- 
nal. Over all, sputtering torch and smouldering 
fire throw a fitful glare, and wavering shadows come 
and go. 

There is absolute silence, save for the heavy 
breathing of the bound captive or occasionally the 
shuffling, hushed instantly, of an impatient foot. 
Then, as all wait expectantly, into the circle bursts 
the beautiful Pocahontas. Her blanket has been 
cast aside, and her brown arms and shoulders gleam 
in the fire-light. Quickly she throws herself upon 
the ground, winds her bare arms around the pris- 
oner's neck, presses her dark cheek against his pale 
face, and turning her black eyes, half filled with 
tears, towards her father, the chief, she pleads for 
the white man's life. 

It is a picture worthy an artist's canvas ; a story 
beautiful enough to be true, and no more strange 
than many things which we know have happened 
to persons whose paths have crossed those of the 
red men. 

Released by Powhatan, Smith returned to find 
the colony in very bad condition. Only thirty- 
eight remained alive and they were suffering from 
cold and hunger, as the winter unfortunately had 
been most severe. These few survivors of the 
entire company were most thoroughly disheartened, 



98 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



and plans were made to return to England in the 
early spring. 

However, just as the ice was breaking, a new 
expedition arrived, containing plenty o£ provisions 
and one hundred and twenty men. When John 



Aaifcriolion^ cfjtarTfff the wf 
Ventura ofCap Smxt/i inViyinia. 




Smith found out that the new comers were gentlemen, 
adventurers and vagabonds of every description, and 
not the sturdy artisans, farmers and laborers he so 
sorely needed, he was indeed disgusted. 

This feeling increased when, with the coming of 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 99 

spring, settlers new and old, forgetting past perils, 
refused to plant crops or clear land, but frittered 
away their time in search for gold. One of them 
filled a ship with glittering but Avorthless sand, 
despatched it to England, and then started on a 
short pleasure excursion up the St. James River to 
view the Pacific Ocean ! 

This was more than John Smith could endure, 
and again he set out on a voyage of discovery. 
Two trips were made, in which Chesapeake Bay 
and the tributary rivers of the Potomac and Sus- 
quehanna, as far as navigable, were thoroughly 
explored, and a map was made to be forwarded to 
England. 

On his return, he was formally elected governor. 
As previously had been the case, at once his rule was 
beneficial. The colonists gave more attention to 
preparation for the future, and during the ensuing 
winter, which proved mild, the work went on. 
Every man was compelled to toil six hours a day, so 
that the spring of 1609 found the struggling 
colony in quite good condition. 

These colonists of whom we have been reading 
were sent to Virginia by the London Company, an 
association of EnoHsh noblemen actino- under a 
charter, granted them by King James. In May 
1609, King James issued another charter to this 

L ofC. 



100 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Company. The territory embraced all the country, 
between Cape Fear and Sandy Hook, from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. 

In June, a new expedition of five hundred emi" 
grants was collected and in nine vessels they w^ere 
despatched to America. During a storm, one of 
the ships was wrecked and another, containing the 
three men who had been appointed to act as com- 
missioners and govern the colony, was cast ashore 
on one of the Bermudas. The other seven ships 
reached Jamestown in safety. 

In this emergency, John Smith was persuaded, 
reluctantly, to continue to act as governor. How- 
ever, soon he was injured by the accidental explo- 
sion of a keg of powder, and as he could not 
receive good medical treatment, in September, 1609, 
he sailed to Enoland never to return. 

Now came times when the firm hand of John 
Smith w^as sadly missed. It would seem that five 
hundred colonists, well provisioned, should be able 
to work out their own salvation. On the contrary, 
they were slothful and careless, and lived disorderly 
and riotously till the first blasts of winter found 
them on the versfe of starvation. 

Such was the effect of hunger, cold, and the 
fierce onslaughts of the Indians, that by spring, out 
of the five hundred, but sixty remained. Just in 



PEARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 101 

time to succor these from death, there arrived the 
ship which had heen stranded on the Bermudas, 
and in it was a supply of food which opportunely 
was distributed among the sufferers. 

For a second time the wretched colonists decided 
to abandon the ill-fated Jamestown. To their sur- 
prise, just as they started to sail out of the Bay, a 
fleet appeared near the eastern horizon. It proved 
to be an expedition under the charge of Lord 
Delaware, with fresh emigrants, and provisions in 
abundance. All returned to Jamestown together 
and better times seemed at hand. 

In the autumn. Lord Delaware was taken sick 
and was compelled to go back to England. Again 
there was discouragement, but in the spring addi- 
tional men and provisions arrived, under Sir Thomas 
Dale. In the fall, six more ships, under Sir Thomas 
Gates, entered the harbor, bringing three hundred 
emigrants and stores of all kinds. Now indeed 
prosperity came to the struggling people, and firm 
foundations were laid for permanent growth. 

The year 1619 is marked by two events of far 
reaching importance. The first colonial legislature 
of the new world, its members chosen by popular 
election, convened at Jamestown, and a Dutch ship 
sailed up the St. James river and sold at auction, to 
the planters, twenty African slaves. The right of 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 103 

self government, and slavery ! A century and a 
half later, when England attempted to trample on 
the one, came the Revolution ; and still a century 
later, when the North tried to control the other, 
came the Rebellion. 

Thus back to the earliest days of the initial 
colony can be traced the causes of the two most 
important crises in the history of our country. 

In 1621 occurred the first organized attempt on 
the part of the Indians to drive the white men 
from their shores. It was but the forerunner of 
numerous wars and massacres to follow. 

Pocahontas, who had married a colonist by the 
name of Rolfe, and had borne him children, was 
dead. Powhatan, too, had entered the happy hunt- 
ing grounds. The colonists had not learned the 
treacherous side of the Indian's character, and were 
trustful and careless. So crafty were the natives 
that up to the very time the blow was struck there 
was not a single sign to arouse suspicion. Had it 
not been for a Christianized Indian, who on the 
night before the day set for the massacre gave the 
alarm to a white friend, doubtless every Englishman 
would have perished. 

The warning saved Jamestown, but the small 
surrounding settlements and plantations were de- 
stroyed, and three hundred men, women and chil- 



104 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

dren were massacred. Then came revensfe. Eiiplish 
soldiers marched through the country, destroying 
villages and putting every Indian to the sword. 
The long conflict between the red man and the 
white man, barely finished at the present time, had 
commenced. 

We shall not follow here in detail the history of 
Virginia for the next one hundred and fifty years. 

In 1624 the London Company was dissolved and 
thereafter Virginia was governed as a royal colony. 
During the revolution in England, which ended in 
the elevation of Cromwell and the beheadinof of 
Charles I., the colonists remained true to the King. 
Nevertheless, on the accession of Charles II., their 
rights were disregarded and even their plantations, 
wrested from the wilderness by years of toil and 
danger, were granted by him as presents to his 
profligate followers. This was the beginning of 
that mistaken policy which resulted in the separa- 
tion of the New World from the Old. 

Through all troubles, the Virginians constantly 
increased in number, and in wealth obtained by the 
development of their own resources. They were 
ever jealous of the rights of free speech and self 
government. Here the torch of liberty had been 
lighted, and though at times its flame grew dim 
and seemed well nigh extinguished, a spark always 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 105 

remained to be fanned into flame in the dark days 
of oppression, when it became necessary for men 
to decide whether they were to be slaves or free 
men. 

No colony has furnished greater soldiers or states- 
men, or has done more for the cause of liberty, 
than old Virginia. 



IX. 
THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 

As has just been told, the principles of indepen- 
dence were dearly prized in Virginia. This also is 
true of Massachusetts; for the first settlers of that 
commonwealth were driven from England by perse- 
cution, and came to the new world, in search of 
liberty. 

To-day we enjoy absolute freedom of conscience. 
We attend whatsoever church and worship in what- 
soever form we please. This privilege is one of the 
fundamental doctrines of our government and is 
guaranteed to all by the Constitution. There is en- 
tire separation of church and state. 

So long have we possessed the inborn right of 
religious liberty that it is almost impossible for us 
to realize that at times conditions have been differ- 
ent, and with amazement, as well as horror, we read 
of the oppressions, sufferings, and martyrdoms for 
conscience' sake, in the past. 

During the sixteenth century a great many fam- 
ilies in Enoland revolted ao-ainst the rio-id rules of 
the Church of England and the bigotry of the gov- 

107 



108 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

ernment. It should be remembered that they were 
not civil rebels nor revolutionists. Against foes 
from abroad or traitors at home they would have 
fought as fiercely and gladly as the most servile 
friend of church or crown. They had the intense 
love of the true Englishman for country, home, and 
kins". Yet in their hearts there was also the firm 
conviction that they had the right to read the Bible 
in their own way, and to worship God in whatsoever 
manner to them seemed meet. Freedom of con- 
science was more than home or country. 

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
these liberty-loving people, who were known as 
Puritans, finding at home no chance for relief, de- 
termined to seek an asylum in Holland. Their first 
attempt to leave was unsuccessful, but in the spring 
of 1608, they safely embarked and landed in Am- 
sterdam. The next year they proceeded to Ley den, 
and in anticipation of years of weary wandering^ 
they named themselves the Pilgrims. 

Their reception in Holland was kindly. The 
king recognized them as honest, industrious. God- 
fearing men and women, but for fear of incurring 
the enmity of England, he could not show them any 
favors. 

Here they dwelt for ten long years, yet the Dutch 
language ever sounded harshly to their ears and they 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 109 

were slow to adapt themselves to foreign customs 
and habits. Althouoh banished from their native 
land, still they were Englishmen ; and it is not at all 
strange that soon they turned their eyes towards 
the new world, where they might make for them- 
selves a home, fashioned after their hearts' desire. 

At first. King James of England and his advisers 
refused to allow the Pilgrims to depart. Heretics 
they were and no favors were to be granted them. 
Finally a half grudging promise not to bother them 
was extorted from him. This was enough. In fact, 
it was worth as much as a direct permission or a 
charter which might be revoked or disregarded at 
any time. 

In the summer of 1620, preparations for the trip 
were commenced. A small vessel of the pretty 
name " Speedwell " conveyed the Pilgrims from 
Leyden to Southampton in England. There they 
were joined by the " Mayflower," a larger ship, with 
a company of emigrants from London. 

Early in August, both vessels cleared the harbor, 
but the " Speedwell " leaked so badly that after sail- 
ing for a few days they laid up at Dartmouth for 
repairs. Again they set forth and again returned, 
the captain of the " Speedwell " refusing to go on 
in such an unseaworthy ship. So, on the 6th of 
September, the " Mayflower," with one hundred 



no EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and two Pilgrims, set forth alone npon her long 
voyage. 

Very different in every way was this company 
from the one which had landed in Viroinia. That 
was composed entirely of noblemen, gold seekers 
and explorers, not fleeing from persecution, nor 
seeking homes, but searching for wealth or adven- 
ture. Religion, to most of them, was a matter of 
small consequence as compared with pleasure or 
profit. Their sliij) was not encumbered with women 
or children. 

But in the " Mayflower " were whole families : hus- 
band, wife, and children ; men whose hair was gray 
and whose faces were wrinkled, and little babes who 
laughed in glee even while tears filled the eyes of 
their mothers as the coast of old Enoland faded 
away in the distance. Not pleasure seekers these. 
They were men and women who had suffered in the 
past, and who realized the dangers of the future, 
although, trusting in God's help, they did not fear. 

Cut off from home and country, in one small 
ship tossed by rolling waves for over sixty days, 
there seemed to enter into their very souls the 
gloomy, brooding spirit of the mighty deep, where 
save for fragile wood and feeble sail, man must look 
to Him alone whose voice can still the tempest, and 
who holds the ocean in the hollow of His hand. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY HI 

Early in November, the dreary coast of Cape Cod 
came into view. Before trying to land, the emigrants 
drew up a paper signed by the head of every family, 
in which they declared their loyalty to the King of 
England, elected John Carver as governor, and 
agreed to live together in peace and concord, with 
equal rights to all. 

Their first attempts to obtain a foothold on the 
desolate shore were discouraging. When a boat 
was lowered, it was found so leaky that water ran 
in faster than it could be bailed out. Several days 
were spent in making the necessary repairs. Then 
a small party went ashore. After wandering about 
in sleet, ice, and snow, they were attacked by hostile 
natives, and considered it a cause for thanksgiving 
that they were able to escape to the ship with their 
lives. 

The vessel proceeded south, but a severe storm 
finally drove it to the west side of the bay, where, 
December 20, 1620, the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth 
Rock. 

" The breaking waves dashed high, on a stern and rock- 
bound coast, 

And the woods against a stormy sky their giant branches 
tossed, 

And the heavy night hung dark, the hills and waters o'er, 

When a band of exiles moored their bark on the wild New 
England shore. 



112 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Amidst the storm the}' sang, and tlie stars heard, and the 

sea I 
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang to the anthem 

of the free ! 
The ocean eagle soared from his nest by the white waves' 

foam, 
And the rocking pines of the forest roared, — this was their 

welcome home." 

Spreading thick over the hilltops and drifting 
deep in the hollows, lay the snows of winter. There 
was not a sign of animal life, for the hirds of the 
air and the beasts of the wood had sought covert 
from the pitiless storms. Except for the groaning 
of the trees as the moaning wind swept through the 
branches, everywhere was the silence of the wilder- 
ness. 

Nor did the silence argue safety. The Indian is 
to be felt before he is heard. Who of these well- 
nigh defenceless people knew at what moment he 
might send a shower of arrows among them? 

Yet the hearts of the Pilgrims did not quail, nor 
did their hands falter. The young, the weak, and 
the feeble obtained shelter as best they could on 
ship or on shore. With swinging axe the men 
bravely attacked the forest trees, and from rough 
hewn logs erected rude cabins. All suffered, many 
died, but none complained, and a kind Providence 
sent an early spring, else every one had perished. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 118 

When the snows melted and the trees put forth 
their leaves, the Pilgrims were thankful for relief 
from the perils of the winter, but still feared attack 
by the Indians. Occasionally a savage had been 
seen in the distance, but he had quickly fled when 
approached. 

In March, Samoset, an Indian who to their sur- 
prise had learned some English, appeared among 
them, exclaiming, " Welcome, Englishmen." Later, 
Massasoit, a great chief whose tribe dwelt north of 
Narragansett Bay, visited them and was received 
with much ceremony. A treaty of peace with him 
was agreed upon — the first act of the kind in New 
England. By its terms there was to be friendship 
between the red men and the white, Massasoit pro- 
tecting the Pilgrims, and they, in turn, defending 
him and his tribe from unjust attack by other natives. 
For fifty years this compact was kept unbroken. 

In the spring, there were left but fifty colonists, 
counting women and children. During the winter, 
Governor Carver and his son had died and soon 
after his wife also passed away. Time and again, 
the Virginians, when disaster came, resolved to 
abandon this country ; yet in the spring when the 
" Mayflower "sailed back for England, not a Pilgrim 
went with her. This shows the stuff of which the 
Puritans were made. 



114 EARLY AMERICAN HISTOKY 

The summer of 1621 brought a failure of crops, 
and the followino; winter was one of sufferino- and 
almost of starvation. To add to the trouble of the 
colony, another company of emigrants, but bringing 
no provisions, had arrived. However, assisted by the 
Indians, the colonists managed to struggle through 
the cold months, part of the time on half rations, 
and frequently with scarcely anything but a few 
grains of corn. 




THE BETURN OF THE MAYFLOWER. Boughlun. 

The next summer the harvest was plentiful, and 
after two years of suffering, the Pilgrims were free 
from the dang'er of starvation. 

As was the case with Virginia, this colony was 
aided by a London company, which had expected to 
make money out of the venture. In 1627, seeing 
no hope of profit, the company sold out to eight 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 115 

leading men of Plymouth colony, for nine thousand 
dollars. In 1629 Charles I. issued a charter by 
which the owners were incorporated under the title 
of " The Governor and Company of Massachusetts 
Bay in New England." This name, Massachusetts, 
is taken from an Indian term meaning " near the 
great hills." 

The change in management increased confidence 
in the future of the colony, and with the year 1630 
a steady flow of emigration set in. The very best 
Puritan families, accustomed to all the comforts of 
the finest city and country homes, sought refuge in 
the New England wilderness, and almost without 
exception endured all hardships without a murmur. 
They were encouraged by Governor John Winthrop, 
a man of sterling character, with the zeal of a martyr. 

As their number increased, the colonists spread 
out, and Salem, Dorchester, Cambridge, Roxbury, 
and Boston were founded. 

When we remember that the Puritans had left 
England in order that they and their descendants 
might enjoy civil and religious liberty, it is some- 
what of a shock to find that even as early as 1631, 
they began to pass laws as intolerant and unjust as 
those from which they had fled. 

For instance, it was enacted that none but church 
members should be allowed to vote. Public taxes 



116 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



were levied for church support, church attendance 
was declared compulsory, and only churcli members 
could hold offices. 

In excuse for such actions, it can be said that 
their religion was so dear to the Pilgrims, and in its 




nor.KR wiM.iAAis' HOUSE, salkm — built lfi36. 

cause they had suffered so greatly, that whosoever 
did not wholly conform to its doctrines seemed an 
enemy to the very life of the community ; yet, when 
all is said, we can but wish that these lines reo-ard- 
ing Puritan narrowness need not be written. 

To these laws Roger Williams, a colonist, was 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 117 

bitterly opposed. Boldly lie announced that every 
man is the keeper of his own conscience, and that 
civil laws of rij^ht have nauoht to do with relioious 
matters. Threats failed to move or quiet him ; and 
so, in the dead of winter, he was banished from the 
colony. 

For days he wandered through the snow, living 
on frozen berries, roots or acorns, and would have 
perished had not the Indians succored him. Their 
great friendship for him arose because he had cham- 
pioned them, and had insisted that the colonists 
were not entitled to the land until the Indians had 
been duly paid. 

In 1G36, his wandering ceased, and he settled 
permanently on tlie present site of the city of Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island. Though he did not return 
to Plymouth, his work there had not been fruitless. 
Other ])ersons continued to advocate his teachings. 
The cause of civil and religious liberty was slumber- 
ing, not dead. 

The Puritans were an intelligent and educated 
people. As soon as circumstances permitted, they 
gave due attention to establishing schools, and in 
1636 appropriated between one and two thousand 
dollars to found a colleo'e at Cambridire. In 1638. 
John Harvard, a minister of the gospel, died, and 
left his library and about five thousand dollars to 



118 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the school. In his honor, it was named Harvard 
College, and is so called unto this day. 

Severe as had been the persecution of Roger 
Williams, it was nothing as compared with the vio- 
lence shown the Quakers, who in 1656 began to ap- 
pear in Boston. Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, the 
first to arrive, were imprisoned and finally sent back 
to England. Laws were passed inflicting sucli pun- 
ishments as banishment and cutting off one ear for 
the lirst conviction, cutting off the other ear if the 
offender returned, and boring through the tongue 
with a red hot iron if the criminal again came back. 

But laws never have suppressed the conscience. 
The more severe the jienalties, the more willing and 
even eager are men to suffer, thus showing the sin- 
cerity of their convictions and upholding before the 
world the principles in which they believe. 

Mary Dyar, Nicholas Davis, William Robinson, 
and William Leddra chose death instead of banish- 
ment and were hano^ed. Then the hearts of the 
public were touched, the laws were repealed, and the 
reign of terror was ended. 

Here for the present we must leave the Pilgrims. 
In other histories you can read how bravely they 
struggled during the next one hundred years to 
maintain the rights they so highly prized, of the 
war they waged with the Indians when old Massa- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



119 



soit died, and of the wars of King William and 
Queen Ann. 

United under a loose federation, the scattered 
colonists, regardless of consequences, ever were 
faithful to the standard of what they thought 
was right in the sight of God. Mistakes they made, 




STANDISH HOUSE AT DDXBUKY. 



and often retributions followed ; but there was no 
weakening, no retreating, and firm and true they 
laid the foundations of the great commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. 

In the Puritans there is much to censure ; there is 
more to praise. Time will cure defects of sternness, 
bigotry and intolerance, but the race which has not 



120 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

conscience, persistence, and the ability to endure 
hardship, will perish from the earth. 

Cold they were, and at times cruel, but before 
passing judgment, let us remember the years during 
which they lived oppressed and despised in Eng- 
land ; their long sojourn in Holland, strangers in a 
strange land ; and their struggle with the wilderness 
on the bleak and barren coast of New Enoland. 
Such an experience kills weaklings, but in men de- 
velops the characteristics of the Puritans. 

Let us also remember that a smiling face is not 
always a sure sign of a sound heart. Sometimes 
thev who feel most, conceal most. Could we but 
look beneath the surface of these remarkable men 
and women, perchance we should find souls more 
tender and loving than the casual observer would 
suspect. As to rectitude of living, they did not 
demand more from others than they were willing to 
exact of themselves. 

Their virtues have descended to the present gen- 
eration. Their faults died with them and should 
be forgotten. Our comfort is due in no small part 
to their privations, our glory to their persecution, 
and our prosperity to their self sacrifice. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 121 



thj: pilgrim fathers— where are they? 

The Pilgrim Fathers — where are they? 

The waves that brougiit them o'er 
Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray 

As they break along the shore ; 
Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that day 

When the jMaytlower moored below, 
When the sea around was black with storms, 

And white the shore with snow. 

The mists that wrapped the Pilgrim's slee}) 

Still brood upon the tide; 
And his rocks yet keep their watch ])y the deep, 

To stay its waves of pride. 
But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale 

When the heavens looked dark, is gone ; 
As an angel's wing, through an opening cloud, 

Is seen and then withdrawn. 

The Pilgrim exile, — sainted name ! 

The hill, whose icy brow 
Rejoiced when he came in the morning's flame, 

In the morning's flame burns now, 
And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night 

On the hill-side and the sea, 
Still lies w^here he laid his houseless head ; 

But the Pilgrim, where is he ? 



122 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The Pilgrim P^itliers are at rest : 

AViien summer 's throned on higli, 
And the M'orld's warm hreast is in verdure dressed, 

Go stand on the hill where they lie. 
The earliest ray of the golden day 

On that hallowed spot is cast, 
And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, 

Looks kindly on that spot last. 

The Pilgrim spirit has not fled : 

It walks in noon's broad light ; 
And it wntelies the bed of the glorious dead 

With the holy stars, by night. 
Jt watches the bed of the brave who have bled. 

And shall guard this ice-bound shore 
Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, 

Shall foam and freeze no more. 

— John Pieiyont. 



X. 

PURITAN CHILDREN. 

Before leaving Massachusetts to take up the settle- 
ment of another colony, it will be interesting to 
glance at the Puritan children. In what way and 
amid what surroundings did boys and girls live in 
Massachusetts, so many years ago ? Of one thing 
we may be sure. Life was as real to them as it is 
to you, and they had their cares and joys, their work 
and play, just as you do to-day. 

The chief characteristic of Puritan life was its 
intense seriousness. The homes were not filled with 
the shouts and laughter of children at play. Any 
but the most simple and quiet games were thought 
unseemly, if not wicked, and there was little time 
for even them. Work, meditation, praver, reading 
the Bible, learning the catechism, or sitting quietly 
in the presence of their elders, were the things to 
occupy the time of a well-bred child. 

There were other books, too, aside from the Bible. 
"A Particular Account of Some Extraordinary Pious 
Motions and Devout Exercises Observed of Late in 
Many Children in Siberia/' " The Life of Mary Pad- 

183 



124 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



dock; Who Died at the Age of Nine," " Spiritual 
Milk for Boston Babes in Either Enghmd ; Drawn 
Out of the Breasts of Both Testaments for Their 
Souls' Nourishment. But May be of Use to Any 
Children," are the titles of a few. Probably you 
would prefer the stories in your own library. 



ir<:->-„_^^ /find, 
The Jhiffc mind. 




The Cat dotlr- p!ay, 
And after sin y. 



The Dog will bite 
A thief at night'. 



Arv EagWs flight- 
Is out of sight. 

The idle Fool 

Is whipt at school. 



A PAGE FIJOM TIIK NP;W ENGLAND PRIMBl;. 

The interior of a Puritan home was plain and 
simple. In one end of the chief room was the huge 
fireplace, where at night one might sit on the end 
of the great back log', and look straight up through 
the chimney to the twinkling stars. The fireplace 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



125 



was the only means of furnishing warmth, for there 
were no stoves nor furnaces. Close to the blaze the 
heat would be intense, but during the severe winters 
the cold in the parts of the room back from the 
hearth we would consider unbearable. 




A PURITAN HOME. 



The open fire was also used for cooking, and over 
it swung the iron crane from which were suspended 
the pots, kettles, and other utensils. It furnished 
liofht, too, for the lono- winter evenino-s, thouo-li at 
a very early day lamps were made from shallow 
dishes filled with grease, in which was inserted a 
wick of cloth. Later came the tallow candles. 

At first, the windows were of oiled paper through 



126 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

which the \ight came dimly. There were wooden 
stools, and chairs roughly made with seats of rushes 
or bark. The carpetless floor was scrubbed and 
cleaned till it fairly shone. 

As with each succeeding year the wilderness be- 
came better subjected, comforts, both of home make 
and brought from England, were added. On a 
winter night the firelight gleamed on the andirons, 
the brass candlesticks and the glass and silver ware. 
Nuts, apples and cider were passed around, and 
there was some relaxation from the toil of the day. 
Then the boys and girls whose minds were kept 
clear and bodies vigorous by plenty of pure air, 
abundant exercise, and plain food, did not lack their 
share of cheer. 

The Puritan children were not petted nor coddled. 
They were expected to share the discomforts and 
hardships of their elders. Even in the dead of 
winter, on the Sunday following its birth, a baby 
must be carried to the meeting' house, which was 
never heated, and there be baptized, sometimes in a 
bowl in which the ice had to be broken. 

The records show that many an infant died from 
such treatment. Yet the ceremony seems never to 
have been omitted for that reason. This shows 
how strictly the Puritan held to what he thought 
was rio'ht. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 127 

In those times our present system of common 
schools had its beginning-. Then, as now, the chil- 
dren of rich and poor were educated together, and 
stood squarely on their own merits without fear or 
favor. Of course it was harder to obtain an educa- 
tion and often years would pass before one could 
find time for studies. So boys and girls, youths 
and maidens, of all ages and conditions, " toeing " 
a crack in the floor to keep in line, awkwardly stood 
up together to recite the same lesson. 

Spelling, writing, reading, and arithmetic were the 
extent of the course of study, with perhaps Latin 
for some of the older boys who expected to go to 
colleo-e. Yet these branches were mastered most 
thoroughly, and in the old log schoolhouse by day, 
and working near the open fireplace at night, with 
a charred stick instead of a pencil, and birch bark 
in lieu of paper, many a famous statesman laid deep 
the foundations of broad learning. 

Of work, there was ])lenty for boys and men. 
The forests were to be cut down, and the ground 
to be cleared for cultivation. Spring brought i)lougli- 
ing, sowing, planting, and hoeing, just as it does on 
your farms to-day, but with no help from machinery. 
During the summer, wood must be cut, in order to 
dry for the winter fireplace. There was the har- 
vesting of hay and grain with the sickle or scythe, 



12H 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



the binding of the grain into sheaves to be threshed 
by hand during the winter, and in the fall, the 
huskiiio' of the corn. 

Nor were the girls idle. Aside from the ordinary 
household duties of sweeping, cleaning, and cook- 
ing, every article of cloth must be spun, woven, and 
dyed by hand. This included sheets and liillow- 
cases as well as clothing. The spinning wheel, 




PURITAN MAIDEN SI'INNINI 



'/. n. Hnrfe. Tr. 



loom, and vat for dyeing were found in every house- 
hold. The whirring of the wheel, the clatter of the 
loom, and the clink of the shuttle could be heard 
from early morn till late at night. Think of all this 
some time when you find it hard to wash or wipe 
the dishes for mother, or to sweep the floor, and 
perhaps your little task will seem easier. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 129 

In the old days, everyone went to meeting on 
Sunday. He who stayed away even once, without 
a good excuse, not only was held in contempt by his 
neighbor, but was also compelled to pay a fine. The 
hour of the approaching service was announced by 
blowing a horn or conch shell, or even by firing- 
muskets. Then the entire population of the town 
and surrounding country could be seen slowly wend- 
ing- their way to the meetinof house. 

In summer, those who walked from a distance, 
came barefooted, putting on shoes and stockings as 
they entered the town. Often a whole family came 
on horseback, the father in front, behind him, on 
the pillion, his good wife, holding a baby in her 
arms, with perhaps another child sitting still farther 
behind. 

Not even on those quiet Sabbath days, though 
the summer breeze, gently swaying leaf and flower, 
sang of love, or the snow of winter, covering the 
ground with a pure mantle, suggested thoughts of 
peace, could these Puritans forget the perils by 
which they were surrounded. The savages knew 
no Sunday. They struck when least expected, and 
spared not young nor old, woman nor child. So for 
better protection, several families would proceed to- 
gether, men with muskets marching ahead, on both 
flanks, and in the rear. 



130 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Town laws were passed providing that each man 
should bring to church his gun and a certain number 
of rounds of powder and ball. In the seats next to 
the door armed men, their clothing padded with 
wool to protect them from arrows, were stationed, 
ready to repel at once any sudden attack. At the 
close of the service, the men went out first, to be 
sure that all was safe before allowing the women 
and children to leave the sheltering walls. What a 
contrast to the smiling, care-free people who in our 
day slowly wander homeward from God's house of 
worship ! 

The interior of the meeting house was cheerless 
and forbidding. The walls and floor were bare, the 
seats high and hard. In even the dead of winter 
the building never was heated. The women carried 
small foot stoves, which they filled with coals from 
the neighboring houses ; the boys and men shuffled 
and stamped their feet to keep up circulation. 

The sermon Avas i3reached from a pulpit raised 
high above the heads of the congregation. Likely 
enouo-h it was three hours lono', and when vou re- 
member that there were two services each day, with 
only a short intermission for lunch, you may not 
envy the boys and girls of long ago. Difficult it 
must have been to sit quietly during these long and 
monotonous hours. In winter, the bitter cold be- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



131 



numbed fingers and toes. In spring and summer, 
murmurinof brook and sinsfino- birds called tlu'ou^h 
open door and windows, or waving branches beck- 
oned to pastures green and iiillside cool and shady. 
It seems as if a revolt on the part of the boys 




THE TITHING MAN. 



was anticipated, for they were seated all together in 
one corner of the room, and in charge of them was 
placed the tithing-man, an individual very pompous 
and supposed to be quite awe-inspiring. Equipped 
with a long staff, he kept close watch over his wards, 



132 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and a hard rap quickly brought to attention the 
scamp who pinched or played tricks on his neighbor, 
or, every amusement failing, dropped off to sleep. 

It is a source of great satisfaction to know that 
the officer did not confine himself to the boys, but 
up and down the aisles he marched, and if on a sultry 
afternoon a member of the con^reofation was found 
SO much as nodding with half-closed eyes, he was at 
once awakened. Usually a fox's tail was attached 
to one end of the staff, and this was drawii gently 
across the sleeper's face to arouse him. Instead of 
the soft fur, some tithing-men affixed a sharp brad, 
Avith which the offender was prodded most viciously. 

Thus suddenly and painfully brought back to 
consciousness, even the most sanctimonious church- 
goer occasionally cried out in language more em- 
phatic than polite, which was thereafter a source of 
great mortification to himself and his spouse. 

There was no Sunday-school. Nothing was done 
to present the great truths of Christianity in a form 
pleasant and attractive to children. The Puritan 
mind seemed to revel in gloomy, bitter, and terrible 
thouohts. The sonofs were sad and mournful. The 
sermons dwelt upon the horrors of everlasting pun- 
ishment, the sinfulness of man, and the wrath of 
God. As a result of such surroundings and train- 
ing, little boys and girls, as soon as they learned to 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 133 

talk, looked to our heavenly Father with fear instead 
of love, and dreaded His anger instead of trusting 
His mercy. They bothered their little heads about 
questions which the wisest never can answer. Let 
us be thankful that our God is love, and our faith 
in His kindness outweighs our fear of His justness. 
Thus the children lived in the Puritan times of 
old. The dangers and hardships by which they 
were surrounded, and the constant struggle for the 
very necessaries of life, developed men and women 
brave and self-reliant, strong in mind as well as body. 
No one need be ashamed to trace his ancestry back 
to the New England Puritans. 



XL 
SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 

Any account of early days in Massachusetts would 
be incomplete without referring- to the Salem witch- 
craft. Nowadays nobody believes in witches. At 
least, if he does he keeps it to himself. But sup- 
posing such creatures ever did exist, from sundry 
accounts we may well agree that once they held high 
carnival in Salem, on Massachusetts Bay. 

It would seem that witches and goblins from every 
quarter of the globe assembled in conventions in 
that old town, or held field-meets to see which could 
play the strangest prank, or in the most uncanny 
way annoy the staid Puritan men, women, and chil- 
dren. According to reports, sticks and stones fell 
from the sky in showers ; })ots and pans danced on 
the kitchen floors; chairs jumped nimbly upon the 
tables ; and the inhabitants themselves suffered from 
queer aches, pains, and other bodily afflictions, all 
due to the mischievousness or malignity of witches 
and evil spirits. 

Durino' these strang-e times there lived in Salem 
an old gentleman by the name of Cotton Mather, 

134 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 135 

the son of Increase Mather of Harvard Colleofe. 
Cotton Mather was a very learned man, being able 
without difficulty to express himself in seven differ- 
ent languages ; and more than this, he was a devout 
minister of the gospel, hating with all his soul, 
witches and demons of every description. Them, 
and all persons who worked with them he combatted 
manfully, with the full strength of his gigantic 
intellect. 

In his " Magnalia," or " History of New England 
from the First Planting in the Year 1620, unto the 
Year of our Lord 1693," a work in seven volumes 
published in London just two hundred years ago, in 
order to justify the actions that he took in suppress- 
ing witchcraft, he seriously chronicles many strange 
occurrences. The foUowino- extracts are taken word 
for word from this quaint old history. 

The Third Example. 

" In the year 1679, the house of William, Morse 
at Newheri'y, was infested after a most horrid man- 
ner. It would fill many pages to relate all the in- 
festations ; but the chief of 'em were such as these : 

"Bricks, and sticJiS, and stones, were often by 
some invisible hand, thrown at the house, and so 
were many pieces of wood: a cat was thrown at the 
woman of the house, and a long staff danc'd up and 



136 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

down in the chimney ; and afterwards the same long- 
staff was hang'd by a line, and swung- to and fro ; 
and when two persons laid it on the fire to burn it, 
it was as much as they were able to do with their 
joint strength to hold it there. An iron crook was 
violently by an invisible hand, liurl'd about ; and a 
chair flew about the room until at last it litt upon 
the table, where the meat stood ready to be eaton, 
and had spoil'd all, if the people had not with much 
ado saved a little. A cliest was by an invisible 
hand carry'd from one place to another, and the 
doors barridado'd, and the keys of the family taken, 
some of them from the bunch where they were ty'd, 
and the rest flying about with a loud noise of their 
knocking against one another. For one while the 
folks of the house could not sup quietly, but ashes 
would be thrown into their suppers, and on their 
heads, and their cloaths ; and the shooes of the man 
being left below, one of them was fill'd with ashes 
and coals, and thrown up after him. 

"A little boy belonging to the family, was a prin- 
cipal st/ffh'er in these inolestatlons ; for he was 
flung about at such a rate, that they fear'd his brains 
would have been beaten out : nor did they find it 
possible to hold him. His bed cloathes would be 
puU'd from him, his bed shaken, and his bed-statf 
leap forward and backward. The man took him to 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 137 

keep him in a chair ; but the chair fell a dancing, 
and both of them were very near being thrown into 
the fire." 

The Fourth Example. 

" In the year 1683, the house of Nicholas Des- 
borough at Hartford, was very strangely molested 
by stones, by pieces of earth, by cobs of Indian 
corn, and other such things, from an Invisihle hand, 
thrown at him, sometimes thro' the door, sometimes 
thro' the window, sometimes down the chimney, 
and sometimes from the floor of the room (Tho' 
very close) over his head; and sometimes he met 
with them in the shop, the yard, the barn, and in 
the field. 

" There was no violence in the motion of the 
things thus thrown by the invisible hand ; and tho' 
others besides the man, happen'd sometimes to be 
hit, they were never hurt with them ; only the Dian 
himself had pain given to his arm, and once blood 
fetch'd from his leg, by these annoyances ; and a 
fire in an unknown way kindled, consumed no little 
part of his estate." 

The Fifth Example. 

" On June 11, 1682. Showers of stones were 
thrown by an invisible hand upon the house of 
George Walton at Portsmouth, Whereupon the 



138 EARLY AMERICAN HISxORY 

peoj^le going" out, found the gate wrung oil" the 
hinges, and stones flying and faUing thick about 
them, and striking of them seemingly with a great 
force ; but really affecting 'em no more than if a 
•so/if touch were given them. The glass ir'nuloics 
were broken to pieces by stones that came not from 
laitJumf, but from tvithui ; and other instruments 
were in like manner hurl'd about. Nine of the 
stones they took up, whereof some were as hot as if 
they came out of the fire ; and marking them, they 
laid them on the table ; but in a little while they 
found some of them again flying about. The spit 
was carry'd up the chimney ; and coming down 
with the point forward, stuck in the back-log ; from 
whence one of the company removing it, it was by 
an inrUibJe hand thrown out at the window. This 
disturbance continued from day to day ; and some- 
times a dismal hollow iDhlst/lug w^ould be heard, 
and sometimes the trotting and snorting of an horse, 
but nothing to be seen. The man went up the 
great bay in a boat unto a farm he had there ; but 
there the stones found him out ; and carrying from 
the JioKse to the boat a stimijj-iron, the iron came 
jingling after him through the woods as far as his 
house ; and at last went away, and was heard no 
more. The anchor leap'd overboard several times 
and stopt the boat. A cheese was taken out of the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 13«J 

press, and crumbrd all over the floor : a piece of 
iron stuck into the wall, and a kettle hung there- 
upon. Several cocks of hay mow'd near the house, 
were taken up and hung upon trees, and others 
made into small whisps, and scattered about the 
house. The man was much hurt by some of the 
stones : he was a Quaker, and suspected that a 
woman, who charg'd him with injustice in detaining 
some land from her, did by loifchcraff occasion 
these preternatural occurences. However, at last 
they came unto an end." 

Thus for page after page does Cotton Mather 
state facts establishing, to the satisfaction of his 
own mind, the existence of witchcraft. When we 
look for proof, which any sensible man will demand, 
we find it sadly lacking. Cotton Mather was so 
self satisfied and so self important, that he regarded 
as a fool, or even worse, anyone who disagreed with 
him. '^ For every instance," he writes, "we have 
such sufficient evidence, that no reasonahJe man in 
the whole country ever did question them ; and If 
will he mweasonahle to do it in any otherT 

Just what a witch was supposed to be is not very 
clearly defined, but all peculiar happenings the 
Puritan mind traced directly to Satan himself. It 
was believed that the prince of evil found on earth 
wicked persons who agreed to serve him and who 



140 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

thereafter spent their time in causing all manner of 
trouble. If the manifestations had been confined 
entirely to inanimate objects, the good people doubt- 
less would have contented themselves with prayers 
and fasting-. When, however, men, women, and 
particularly children, were thought to be bewitched, 
sterner measures were adopted. 

So far the history of witchcraft has been laugh- 
able. Now it becomes terrible beyond description, 
for according to the law of England and of Massa- 
chusetts, diabolical practices were punishable by 
death, and the Puritans were not slow to exact the 
extreme penalty. 

In February, 1692, a daughter of Samuel Parris 
became afflicted with a nervous trouble, rendering 
her almost insane. Her father was convinced that 
she was bewitched. Tituba, an Indian servant, was 
charged with being the cause of the disorder. At 
first she denied her gudt, but upon being severely 
flogged, she confessed all that was desired of her. 
It is too bad the matter did not end here, but the 
craze had started. Soon it was beyond all control. 

In March, Mary Cory was arrested, convicted and 
sent to jail. Next, Sarah Cloyce and Rebecca 
Nurse were imprisoned on the scanty evidence of 
Tituba, her Indian husband, and a half-witted girl 
called Abigail Williams. Then Giles Cory, a mau 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 141 

over eighty years of age, in turn was accused, and 
as he obstinately refused to plead, he was pressed 
to death instead of hanofed. 

The madness now was at flood tide. No one, 
high or low, rich or poor, was safe from suspicion. 
Fathers kept close guard over their families, children 
spied on the servants and the latter retaliated by 
makino; accusation against their masters. 

The epidemic spread from Salem even to Boston. 
No less than five women were hanged on one day. 
Every trial was a farce. In fact, often those who 
confessed were spared, while a denial brought death. 
To extort confessions, people were tortured most 
cruelly and while half unconscious from pain and 
terror, admitted everything. By the end of Septem- 
ber, twenty had been executed, one hundred and 
fiftv were in jail, and hundreds more were accused 
or suspected. 

Then the people paused, shocked by the awful 
consequences of their insane action, the prisons 
were opened, no more were convicted, and the wave 
of frenzy subsided as quickly as it had arisen. 

Nothing can be gained by farther reciting these 
horrible deeds. We can but regret that it is neces- 
sary for us to note even what we have ; however, 
history deals with the truth and we must take things 
as they were, not as we wish they might have been. 



142 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

At times it is necessary for us partially to remove 
the veil which passing time has kindly drawn to 
hide the evil acts of men, swayed by passion, preju- 
dice or fanaticism. Such periods cannot be without 
a purpose in the world's development. 

Then, when enoug-h has been seen to warn us 
against making like mistakes, it is best quickly to 
let the veil again drop back in place, and as kindly 
as possible to remember those whose error was in 
judgment rather than intention. 

What was the cause of this madness? There 
were no more wdtches in Salem two hnndred years 
ago than there are to-day. Satan was no more 
active then than now. Let us first remember that 
in every age, men have explained that which they 
could not comprehend by calling it the work of 
spirits, good or evil. The savage, wdio does not 
understand a watch, is ready to bow down in worship 
and call its possessor a god. During an eclipse, the 
Chinese beat drums and shout loudly to scare away 
the monster which is swallowinsr the sun. From 
the locomotive, pouring forth fire and smoke in its 
wild course across the plains, the Indian flees in 
terror, as from the evil one himself. Barbarians of 
every race have thought that sickness is caused by 
the entrance of demons into the human body. 
These superstitions, passing from generation to 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 145 

generation, become absolute, unreasoning convic- 
tions. 

The Puritan was not educated above his times. 
His ancestors ascribed to witchcraft many facts 
they could not understand, and punished its practice 
with death as solemnly as they did the commission 
of murder. He himself believed in it as thoroughly 
as he did in the smallpox, or in his Bible. Any 
measures were justifiable to protect his household 
from its ravages, just as your father, if necessary, 
would use a shot gun to keep from his dwelling a 
man infected with yellow fever. 

Think of the Puritan now in a new country with 
no companions but the savages, the wilderness and 
his own gloomy thoughts. He considers himself 
the bearer of Christ's teachinos to a heathen land, 
and gloats over the anger of Satan as Christianity 
at length invades the dominion he has so long ruled. 

One morning a gust of wind comes down the 
good man's chimney and blows the ashes over his 
food, spoiling his breakfast. What more natural 
than for him to think that some witch is botheriup' 
him ? On his way to work, a limb drops from 
a tree and strikes his head. This increases his sus- 
picion regarding evil spirits. In his stable he finds 
a cow sick from some strange malady. Now he is 
sure that he is being bewitched, and terror seizes 



144 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

him. Loud and long he prays by his own fireside 
for deliverance, and loud and long from his high 
pulpit the preacher thunders defiance to the powers 
of darkness. 

All this the shudderinof- children see and hear. 
Then one of them is taken ill. It is simply a case 
of too much fruit or pastry, but the terrified boy 
cries out that he is bewitched. ^Yho could have 
cast the spell ? It must be the Indian servant who 
still has many of the strange customs of her tribe, 
or the old woman, bent and ugly, who lives alone 
on the outskirts of the town. 

So the servant or the old woman is floooed and 
tortured till she confesses. The neighbors take up 
the cry and the panic spreads from house to house 
and from town to town. Rising to the occasion, 
the Puritan imprisons, tortures, and hangs till the 
people come to their sober senses and suddenly halt, 
trembling lest they really may have been in the 
wrono\ This doubtless accounts for all the facts 
of the Salem Witchcraft. 

We open the chapter with a smile at the exag- 
gerated account of the queer actions of bricks, 
sticks, and stones, as detailed by old Cotton Mather. 
We close it with a tear for the innocent who 
sujffered at the hands of misguided men. The 
banishment of Roger Williams, the persecution of 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



145 



the Quakers, and the witchcraft craze in Salem — 
these are the dark spots in the history of the Puri- 
tan. Yet the new world owes him a debt it never 
can repay, and we should try to overlook his 
mistakes. 

Let us simply take into our hearts the lessons 
taught by these sad times — the beauty of charity, 
the danger of acting rashly, and the nobihty of 
o-rantinof to others that freedom of belief which we 
claim of rioht for ourselves. 




COTTON MATHER. 




-^--^^^ 



MAP SHOWING DIFFEKKNT SETTLEMKNTS 



XII. 
THE DUTCH IN NEW YORK. 

About the time when John Smith was makino- 
his explorations in Virginia, and ten years before 
the Puritans landed in Massachusetts, Henry Hudson 
set sail from H(dland in the service of the Dutch 
East India Company. The result of his voyage 
was the settlement of New York, althouoh his 
object was to find a northeast water route to India 
and China. One hundred years before, Vasco da 
Gama had reached these famous lands by way of 
Southern Africa, and Magellan had marked a path 
around South America. Hudson's attempts were 
by way of the north. 

In April, 1609, in the good ship " Half Moon," 
the memorable voyage commenced. Already Hud- 
son, an Englishman by birth, had made two trips 
for a company of London merchants, to find a 
passage east through the Arctic Ocean between 
Spitzenberg and Nova Zembla. Each time he had 
been driven back by ice and snow. Discouraged 
by lack of success, the Londoners had refused to 
send him out again. 

147 



148 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But, true explorer that he was, he himself did 
not know the words discouragement or failure. 
His heart ever burned with the spirit of adventure 
and in his mind there was always one fixed purpose, 
to be accomplished by any possible means. While 
his native country came first, no time was lost in 
seeking other aid when she would not support him. 
So Hudson, discarded by the English merchants, 
now goes forth with equal faith and fearlessness to 
win riches and glory for the Dutch. 

After spending a month in trying to force his 
way through the ice near Nova Zembla, Hudson 
found that he coidd make no progress. His next 
action shows the spirit of these old time voyagers. 
They seemed to think as little of sailing around the 
world as we do of walking around a block. As 
Hudson could not proceed by way of the east, he 
calmly turned his vessels about and steered them 
west, hoping to find an opening north of Chesapeake 
Bay, where he knew of the settlement at Jamestown. 
In July, he encountered a severe gale and landed 
on the coast of Maine to repair the shattered sails 
and masts. In August, the " Half Moon " made 
the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, and, continuing, 
early in September she cast anchor safe within the 
sheltering arm of Sandy Hook. 

A little later, a landing was made on the New 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 149 

Jersey shore. Here for a few clays Hudson traded 
with the natives. The Indians, with their copper 
pipes and ornaments and clad in mantles made of 
feathers or rich furs, Avere objects of great curiosity 
to the sailors of the " Half Moon." The white men, 
in turn, were a source of wonder to the Indians, who 
in canoes hollowed out of huge logs, paddled around 
the ship. They appeared friendly, but were inchned 
to steal. Later Hudson ascertained to his sorrow 
that they could not be trusted at all, for while 
returning from exploring Newark Bay, a boat from 
the '' Half Moon " was attacked, and one of its 
occupants was killed by an arrow. 

One morning in the middle of September the 
ship weighed anchor, and a strong south wind 
quickly wafted her up the beautiful river still bear- 
ing Hudson's name. This region is renowned for 
its grand scenery. What must the view have been 
three hundred years ago, before the hand of man 
had felled a tree or built a single house or factory? 
Here the rushing waters dash in foaming waves 
against huge boulders or around the projecting 
point of precipitous cliffs. There with broad un- 
ruffled surface the mighty current sweeps on in 
majestic grandeur. Now rugged bluffs and rocky 
headlands approach the water's edge, and now the 
vista opens and grassy fields and oak clad hills 



150 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

present themselves. At morn, the wild fowl rise in 
alarm from their feeding gronnds in the ponds and 
marshes ; at eve, the red deer, disturbed as at the 
water's brink he bends his antlered head to quench 
his thirst, crashes through the underbrush into the 
dense forest ; and at nio-ht the howlin"- of the 
wolves, as they chase their prey over field and 
mountain, echoes and re-echoes from bank to bank. 

All these things the voyagers saw and heard, and 
Hudson noted well that it was a goodly country 
and of great promise for future settlement. 

Near the site of the present city of Hudson, the 
ship could proceed no farther. Here Pludson Avent 
on shore, visiting and trading with the natives. 
He found them peaceful and prosperous, dwelling 
in houses made of oak bark, and possessing gran- 
aries well stored with the corn of the last year's 
harvest. Food in plenty was offered him : game 
from the forests, fish from the river, and even a 
plump dog, considered by the Indians the greatest 
delicacy. 

Hudson, however, could not tarry and to the re- 
gret of the simple savages, soon drifted south with 
the current. Early in October the " Half Moon " 
once more felt the ocean's waves rolling against her 
fat sides as her prow swung towards the east, for 
the homeward voyage to Holland. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 151 

Proud of the success of the trip, Hudson landed 
at Dartmouth to tell the English merchants what 
they had missed by withdrawing- their snpport from 
him. This visit proved unfortunate, for he and the 
English members of his crew were detained by order 
of the king, who claimed their services. All that 
could be done was to send a written rejDort to 
Holland, a country which Hudson served so well, 
but never saw thereafter. 

The Enolishmen now took new courasfe, and in 
the summer of 1610 sent Hudson in the ship 
" Discovery " to search again for the northwest 
passage, which he was convinced must be found, if 
at all, north of the coast of Maine. Between Green- 
land and Labrador, an opening- towards the west 
was seen. This was entered August 2 and tlie 
"Discovery " was the first ship to plow these waters, 
since called " Hudson Strait." At length the way 
seemed blocked by small islands, but on turning to 
the south a sea disclosed itself to view, where rollino- 
waves stretched far away towards the west, without 
a sign of land. This was " Hudson Bay." 

Here great joy came to Hudson, for he firndy 
believed that before him lay an unobstructed route 
to China. Disappointment followed, however ; as 
he sailed westward, the shore again appeared. Ice 
now shut in around his vessel and he found that he 



152 ' EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and his crew must undergo the long and terrible 
winter of that desolate country. 

Before spring arrived there was much hardship 
from cold and hunger, and also much grumbling 
and complaint on the part of the sailors. When 
the ice softened under the warm soutli wind, and 
the vast fields, cracking asunder, left safe outlets 
for the imprisoned ship, preparations were made for 
return. Yet Hudson was fated to remain. A 
mutiny broke out and the treacherous sailors placed 
him, his son, and several others in an open boat 
and set it afloat among the icebergs. Then the 
" Discoverv " sailed away and nothing more was 
ever heard of Hudson or his coni})anions. 

Death had come quickly to Magelhm in the far- 
off Philippines. DeSoto passed away on the bank 
of the Mississippi. The fate of these brave men is 
known. But what of Hudson? Mighty icebergs, 
o'lindinir tooether, may have crushed his frail skiff 
between their glistening sides ; breeze and current 
may have borne him to some barren shore, tliere to 
await a lingering death from starvation and ex- 
posure ; or perchance the fiendish torture of savage 
tribes was added to his other sufferings. When 
and where and how he died is one of the many 
fathomless secrets of the frozen north. 

From 1610 to 1623, numerous ships were sent to 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



153 



the Hudson River by Dutch merchants, and the 
trade in furs became of much value. A settlement 
called New Amsterdam, markino- the beuinnino: of 
New York City, Avas founded on Manhattan Island. 
The coast was explored north to Cape Cod and as far 
south as Delaware Bay, a few miles north of which, 
on the Delaware River, Ft. Nassau was established. 




OI,D DUTCH HOUSE. 



Holland made claim to all the country between 
these two points, and named it New Netherlands. 

In 161^3, the first colony from Holland to the 
New Netherlands was sent under the auspices of 
the Dutch West India Company, chartered by the 
government two years previously. In April, the 
emigrants reached the mouth of the Hudson River, 



154 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and most of them settled on Manhattan Island, 
which three years later was purchased from the 
Indians for only twenty-four dollars. 

These colonists were Protestants who had been 
grievously persecuted in their own country, and, 
like the Puritans, here sought freedom. Between 
them and the Puritans there always existed a close 
bond of sympathy. Other expeditions came over 
from year to year, and by 1630 several hundred 
people were located on Manhattan Island. 

Early in its history almost every colony became 
involved in a conflict with the Indians, and to this 
the Dutch were no exception. Sometimes the 
natives commenced the trouble with no excuse 
except resentment against the white men for taking 
their land. In the war in 1640, between the In- 
dians of Long Island and New Jersey, and the 
Dutch of New Netherlands, the fault was with the 
colonists. 

Greedy traders w^ent among the surrounding 
tribes and first making them drunk by liberal gifts 
of rum, robbed them of their possessions. Then 
the Indians rose in wrath and laid waste the settle- 
ments along the Jersey shore and on Staten Island, 
even threatening New Amsterdam. Finally a truce 
was agreed upon through the kindly efforts of 
Roofer Williams. 



EAHLY AMERICAN HISTORY 155 

During its continuance, a party of the fierce 
Mohawks came down tlie river to fioht the coast 
tribes. The less warlike savages around New Am- 
sterdam feared the Mohawks, and gathering- near 
the Hudson River they asked aid of the Dutch. 
Here, to his everlasting disgrace, Governor Kieft 
seized an opportunity to inflict severe punishment. 
Secretly in the dead of night a company of soldiers 
surrounded the Indians who had come to seek 
protection. Without warning, men, women, and 
children were cruelly butchered and their bodies 
were thrown into the river. No wonder that there- 
after the border war with all its horrors wasfed fast 
and furiously. 

In the end, as always, the stronger whites were 
victorious, the power of the Indians was broken, 
and in 1645 a treaty of peace was concluded. 
Quick retribution overtook Governor Kieft. In 
IGJrT he set sail for Europe in a merchant vessel; it 
was destroyed in a storm near the coast of Wales, 
and the man who had caused so much bloodshed 
found a resting pjace beneath the billows of the sea. 

Durino- the administration of honest Governor 
Peter Stuyvesant, commencing in May, 1647, better 
times came to the New Netherlands. The Indians 
were treated with kindness and consideration until 
they became the firm allies of the Dutch. Trade 



156 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




PETEK STUYVK&ANT. 



and commerce, too, 
prospered wonderfully, 
and it was predicted 
even then that some 
day in the harbor of 
New Amsterdam would 
be collected ships from 
every quarter of the 
globe. If he who made 
this prophecy could 
stand to-day in New 
York harbor, he would see that his dreams have 
been more than realized. 

Now began the many disputes between different 
colonies as to their respective boundaries. The 
Dutch were afraid that the energetic people of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut would gradually en- 
croach on their land till they possessed the rich fur 
trade of the Hudson. However, the dispute was 
settled amicably, and a boundary was fixed under 
terms of a treaty ratified by the colonists, the West 
India Company, and Holland, but never acknowl- 
edged by England. 

In 1637 a company of Swedes had colonized the 
northern part of the present state of Delaware, and 
now the settlement was becoming very prosperous. 
With them the jealous Dutch could come to no 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 167 

agreement. In 1655 Governor Stuyvesant himself 
sailed to Delaware Bay with six hundred troops, 
and the Swedes, greatly outnumbered, were quickly 
overcome. 

The victory, however, was of little moment, for 
the time was almost at hand when the New Nether- 
lands themselves were to pass under English control. 
With nations, as with men, too often might makes 
right. Though England and Holland were at peace, 
King Charles II. had no respect for the claims of 
the weaker nation, and granted to the Duke of York 
the territory possessed by the Dutch. 

In August, 166J:, an English fleet appeared be- 
fore New Amsterdam and demanded its surrender. 
Governor Stuyvesant urged his people to resist, but 
all in vain. They hated the West India Company, 
by whom they had been ill treated ; though loyal 
to the King of Holland, they secretly envied the 
advancement of their more active and progressive 
neighbors. So in September, New Amsterdam sur- 
rendered, its name was changed to New York, in 
honor of the Duke of York, and the territory of 
New Netherlands passed permanently under English 
rule. 

Many humorous accounts have been written of 
the queer characteristics of these sturdy Dutch colo- 
nists. True, they had their peculiarities, as did the 



158 



EAULY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Yankees, but it is not necessary to believe that the 
men wore at the same time, five pairs of breeches, or 
that, when considering some important question, 
from their long-stemmed clay pipes they pulted such 
clouds of smoke as to be hidden from view. 






OLD DUTCH CHURCH. TARRYTOWN, V. Y. 

The Dutchman loved his quiet smoke and his mug 
of beer, but he was no more addicted to the use of 
strong liquor than was the Puritan. Somewhat 
slow mentally and lacking the nervous energy of his 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 159 

neighbors in Massachusetts and Connecticut, he was 
none the less progressive and sure o£ every move. 
Life to him was centered in his home and family. 
When riches came, he enjoyed them, for while 
frugal he never was stingy. The best of food, 
tableware, furniture, and clothes was none too good 
for him and those dependent on him. 

His descendants are noted for their thrift, in- 
dustry, and honesty. No more desirable colonists 
have ever settled in any land, and in the veins of 
men to-day flows no better blood than that which 
has come to them from the people who lived quietly, 
peacefully, and happily in the quaint old town of 
New Amsterdam, and the beautiful valley of the 
Hudson. 



XITT. 
THE QUAKERS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 

We have seen how the Puritans tortured and 
killed the Quakers in Massachusetts. Even when 
such practices were stopped, trouble between the 
two sects did not cease entirely. This was partly 
because the punishments already inflicted had 
aroused the obstinacy of the Quakers. The more 
they were persecuted, the more firmly settled they 
became in their convictions. From all accounts, 
they do not seem to have been on every occasion 
the meek and mild men and women who are called 
by that name to-day. We cannot in the least 
blame the Puritans for punishing- them quite se- 
verely for many of their habits. 

Quaker women, most scantily clad, their faces 
blackened with ink and their hair in disorder, en- 
tered the meetino- houses. Rising- in their seats 
during- the progress of the sermon, they loudly 
called the ministers liars and fools. The men, with 
their hats on and their clothing covered with ashes, 
forced their way past the tithing-man and groaned 
dismally throughout the service ; or poking their 

160 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 161 

heads in through the open church-windows, hooted 
and howled till the ministers could not make them- 
selves heard. 

It was no more than right that such persons 
should be punished occasionally, just as to-day it is 
necessary to fine those who disturb a place of public 
worship. 

A glance into the history of the Friends, or 
Quakers, in England will tend to explain these 
actions. As with the Puritans and the New Neth- 
erlanders, the foundation of their faith was freedom 
of conscience. At a time when relig-ion was more a 
matter of form than of the heart, they declared their 
belief in the guidance of the still, small voice, which, 
if we but listen, whispers in the breast of each of us. 

Ministers who preached for pay and officers who 
basely served an earthly king, particularly were ob- 
noxious to them, and so they made enemies of those 
highest in civil and religious power. Like all re- 
formers, they went to an extreme and perhaps did 
not respect sufficiently the opinions of those who 
differed with them. Then a few of them, as their 
hearts became embittered by years of abuse, made 
nuisances of themselves, and bothered those of other 
reliofious beliefs. 

Yet it is to men and women of this stamp, quick 
to think for themselves and ready to back their 



162 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

opinions against the world, even to the extent of 
torture or death, that we owe our liberty. This 
liberty would be prized more dearly if we would 
remember oftener the great price in sorrow and suf- 
fering paid by our forefathers. 

The first man to proclaim the doctrines of the 
Quakers was George Fox. About the middle of 
the seventeenth century he began to preach in 
England, and aroused the people as they never had 
been aroused before. Opposition by priests or mag- 
istrates served to encourage him. When driven out 
of the church, he preached in the streets ; when 
banished from a city, he talked in the country ; and 
when placed in jail, he plead with the inmates. 
Threats of torture or other dire punishment de- 
terred him not. 

His language appealed to the common people, 
and it was not long before he had a large following 
as patient, as resolute, and as enthusiastic as was he 
himself. Every manner of punishment and oppres- 
sion was heaped upon these Quakers. They were 
imprisoned, placed in the stocks, and Hogged. 
Their churches were destroyed, and their homes 
were torn from over their heads ; but unshaken in 
faith, they secured fresh places of shelter or wan- 
dered in the open air, and met to worship in secret 
when to worship openly was impossible. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



163 



As existence in the old world was almost unen- 
durable, it is no wonder that the Quakers looked 
across the ocean, where the Puritans and New 
Netherlanders already had settled. There they, too, 
sought relief and rest. By the close of the year 
1677 over four hundred Friends had landed in the 
western part of New Jersey. Even there, they were 
not entirely free from care and trouble, for several 
noblemen claimed the title 
to the land, and there were 
continual disputes as to who 
should govern and in what 
form. These disaofreements 
were around the Quaker 
settlement, however, rather 
than within it, and the col- 
onists deemed themselves 
successful because they had 
found freedom of conscience, which they prized 
more dearly than any other possible possession. 

One of the leaders in the New Jersey movement 
was an Englishman by the name of William Penn. 
No man connected Avith the early history of our 
country is entitled to more love and respect. He 
was the son and the grandson of officers of the 
English navy. His family owned large estates and 
we would think that a man of his descent, training, 




WILLIAM PENN. 



164 EAKLY AMERICAN HISTOKV 

and standing in life would be the last to accept the 
Quaker doctrine. 

Yet while a mere boy he was seriously inclined, 
and learned to do that which his conscience told 
him was right. As a student in the University at 
Oxford, he so openly championed the principles 
taught by the Quakers that he was expelled. Then 
he traveled in Europe for two years, but was sud- 
denly recalled to England to manage the property 
of the family during the absence of his father, who 
was assigned to a command in the naval war with 
Holland. 

Here was opened to Penn a life of pleasure and 
comfort. Of good family, refined and cultured by 
nature, education, and travel, one would expect to 
see him attracted by some learned profession or by 
politics, where he could win fame and increase his 
riches. Instead, in 1667, at the age of twenty-three, 
he was cast into jail because he persisted in obeying 
his conscience, according to the teaching of the 
Quakers. 

Society was greatly shocked wdien it was noised 
abroad that the noble William Penn had turned 
Quaker. All his old acquaintances scorned him. 
A very few tried to argue with him and to persuade 
him from the alleged error of his ways. Such ef- 
forts were in vain. A few years later, again he was 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 165 

imprisoned, and was tried for the crime of address- 
ing a Quaker meeting. The jury, though starved 
for two days and nights, stuck to a verdict of '' not 
guilty," for which they were fined by the judge ! 
Penn also was heavily fined for contempt of court, 
in telling the jury to be firm and to remain true to 
their convictions. 

Now came the death of Penn's father. The son 
William inherited an immense fortune, but the more 
firmly he became attached to the principles of free- 
dom of mind and of conscience. Whatever might 
be the result, he never feared to express openly his 
opinions. In 1671, he traveled extensively in Ger- 
many and Holland, everywhere speaking to the 
people. Returning to England, he continued to 
spare no effort to advance the cause he loved. 

Such is the man who interested himself in the 
asylum for the Quakers in New Jersey and of whose 
actions in founding the great state of Pennsylvania 
we now are to read. 

Among other things left to Penn by his father 
was a claim of sixteen thousand pounds against the 
English government. Pleased with the progress of 
the Quaker settlement in New Jersey, Penn gladly 
gave up this demand and in return King Charles 
II., in 1681, granted to him a vast extent of land 
bounded on the east by the Delaware River. From 



166 EAKLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

this has been carved the state of Pennsylvania, or 
Penns Wood. 

Here he was to estabHsh a place of refuge, not 
for the English Quakers only, but for the oppressed 
of all nations. In this settlement there was to be no 
distinction as to color, race, or religion. The people 
were to live on lines of simple equality, and to be 
ruled wisely and fairly, Avhile the Indians were to 
be treated as friends and conquered by love and 
kindness alone. 

Immediately upon receiving his charter, Penn 
made known throughout England that in his posses- 
sions across the ocean, where the soil was rich and 
the climate mild, emigrants who desired liberty, 
equality, and justice would be welcome. Before the 
summer was over, several ship loads of Quakers left 
England for the place of refuge. 

The first vessel bore a message from Penn to 
some Swedes who already had settled there, telling 
them not to worry nor be troubled, for they would 
not be disturbed in their homes, and would be gov- 
erned by impartial laws which they themselves would 
have a voice in framing. Word was sent to the 
Indians, also, assuring them that it was his purpose 
to deal with them honestly, and that the colonists 
wished to live side by side with them on terms of 
mutual respect and love. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 167 

Thus at the very outset did Penn show the broad- 
ness of his mind and the sincerity of his behef ; for 
he remembered not only the white settlers at the 
moment on his land, but even the savages whose 
rio["hts never before had received due consideration. 

A orreat manv men are o'ood as long^ as it does 
not affect their pocket-books, nor involve any par- 
ticular self denial. It was comparatively easy for 
Penn to say to the English Quakers that on his do- 
main beyond the sea they would find perfect equality, 
and exemption from persecution, and that they would 
be allowed to govern themselves. It was easy, also, 
to forward words of cheer to the settlers, white and 
red. Yet Penn had now become a poor man. His 
estates practically were exhausted, and in payment 
for the land he had cancelled a claim of seventy-five 
thousand dollars. 

When the time came to draw up a form of gov- 
ernment, why should he not reserve great rights for 
himself? Why should there not be duties and taxes 
to pay him back the money he had expended, and 
perhaps an office of prominence with a large salary 
to distinguish him as the founder of the Quaker 
colony ? 

Here came the great test, and as we may anticipate 
from what already has been told of his life and 
character, his manhood and probity did not fail 



168 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

him. The constitution carried out every promise 
he had made. The people were allowed to vote 
upon its adoption, and no provision was inserted 
wherehy more gain or glory should come to Penn 
than to the humblest colonist. 

In 1682, Penn himself determined to visit his 
possessions, and on October 27 he landed at New 
Castle, Delaware. Naturally a large crowd gathered 
on the bank of the river to greet him. There was 
no pomp nor display, however ; no firing of cannon 
nor martial music. As a simple citizen appeared 
William Penn, clad in plain clothes instead of velvet 
and lace, surrounded by humble and earnest fol- 
lowers instead of haughty and careless lords and 
noblemen. In his address he dwelt not on his own 
power or repute, but urged all to live in peace, in- 
dustry, and sobriety, while pledging himself to secure 
to them every measure of freedom and equity. No 
display nor ceremony could have increased the 
warmth of his welcome or given him a clearer right 
to a lovinjT remembrance. 

The first important act after Penn arrived was his 
conference with the Indians. Heretofore the native 
inhabitants had been regarded as savages, who, 
while they might have souls to save, also had land, 
corn, and furs which the white man must have on 
whatsoever terms to him seemed lit. With few ex- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 169 

ceptions, all treaties had to do with the purchase of 
territory or the right to trade. 

Now there arrived among the Indians a singular 
man unarmed and unprotected, in hroad hrimmed 
hat and long gray coat, and with words of peace 
and fellowship instead of bargain and conquest. 
Early in the winter of 1682, under a spreading elm 
tree near the northern edge of the present site of 
Philadelphia, William Penn addressed the assembled 
Indians. Gravely squatting in a circle around him, 
they listened closely to his words. 

" We meet on the pathway of good faith and 
good-will," said Penn. " No advantage shall be 
taken on either side but all shall be openness and 
love. I will not call you children, for parents some- 
times chide their children ; nor brothers, for brothers 
sometimes differ. The friendship between me and 
you I will not compare to a chain ; for that the rain 
might rust or a falling tree might break. We are 
the same as if one man's body were to be divided 
into two parts. We are all one flesh and one blood. 
When disputes arise, we will settle them in council, 
to be composed of red men and white." 

The Indians replied, " While the rivers run and 
the sun shines, we will live at peace with the children 
of William Penn." 

This simple, unwritten compact was kept for over 



170 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



seventy years. Clad in Quaker hat and coat, one 
coidd walk alone and unarmed througfh field and 
forest more safely than thoug-h protected by armor 
of steel, and knife and musket. Other colonists, 
had they met the Indians in the same spirit and 
kept their promises as faithfully, wonld have been 
saved many a o-vievous war. 




WILLIAM PENN"'^ HOUSE. 



Now Penn began to look about for a place to lay 
the foundation of a city which should be the capital 
of his domain. A site was selected on a neck of 
land between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, 
and the ground was purchased from the Swedes. 
There in February, 1683, the native trees were 
blazed to mark the streets of Philadelphia, the " City 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 171 

of Brotherly Love." The new metropolis prospered 
most wonderfully and in population soon surpassed 
New York. 

Good fortune came to the rest of the colony also. 
The people of Holland and Germany well remem- 
bered William Penn and the talks he had made to 
them on his travels in Europe. From these coun- 
tries hundreds of honest, sturdy settlers arrived, and 
though clad in homespun and speaking a strange 
language, they were made welcome. Here, at last, 
was a place where the Indian, the Quaker, the 
Englishman, the Dutchman, the Swede and the 
German could dwell together in concord and unity. 

With scarcely an exception worthy of note, this 
blissful state of affairs was uninterrupted. In 1699 
there was some dissatisfaction, but Penn showed his 
constant kindness by drawing up a second constitu- 
tion even more liberal than that first granted. The 
government continued to be a representative one, 
where the laws were made by the people themselves. 
During all this time, save for one year when his 
rights were taken away from him by King James II., 
the land was the property of William Penn, or his 
heirs. In 1779, the entire claim of Penn's family 
was purchased for one hundred and thirty thousand 
pounds by the legislature of Pennsylvania. 

In July, 1718, William Penn died in England, 



172 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

peacefully and quietly. To him had come the real- 
ization of his fondest dreams. In truth, Pennsyl- 
vania had become a haven of refuge, not for Quakers 
only, but for the weary and opjiressed of every race 
and nation. In fact as well as in name Philadelphia 
was a city of brotherly love. Seldom have the plans 
of the founder of a commonwealth been carried out 
as were those of William Penn. 

A little later we shall be able to see more clearly 
the importance of Penn's work, and its influence on 
the history of our country. When it grew necessary 
for the settlers to act together to preserve their 
rights, Philadelphia was the connecting- link between 
the colonists on the north and on the south. The 
city of love was ever the city of liberty. There in 
1776 was signed the Declaration of Independence, 
proclaiming to the world that " all men are created 
equal" — the very doctrine to establish which Penn 
had devoted his fortune and life. 



XTV. 
THE THIRTEEN COLONIES COMPLETE. 

Now we have read of Pennsylvania, ]S^ew York, 
Massachusetts, and Virginia. These, with Georgia, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Hamp- 
shire, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and 
South Carolina, constitute the thirteen colonies 
which banded tooether in the war of the Revolution. 

Like Pennsylvania, Georgia was founded through 
motives of pure philanthropy. Religious intoler- 
ance was not the only form of abuse from which the 
inhabitants of Enofland suffered. There was also 
imprisonment for debt. Whosoever could not pay 
what he owed, with but short ceremony was sent to 
jail. It mattered not that his condition might be 
the result of sickness or misfortune, that he was 
using every possible effort to discharge his obliga- 
tions, or that his family might suffer or even starve 
to death during his confinement. To the prison he 
went, there to remain until his debt was paid. 

In 1728, as the result of an extended investigation 
of this wretched condition of affairs, these debtors 
were released. The majority of them, however, had 

173 



174 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



no business nor occupation to wliicli they could re- 
turn, their families had been scattered, and they 
themselves were disgraced in the eyes of their 
neighbors. It was to provide a place of refuge for 
these men that Georgia was founded. 

The leader in the move- 
ment was James Oofle- 
tliorpe. He was born in 
England in 1689, and at 
the age of twenty-one en- 
tered the army. In 1722 
he was elected to Parlia- 
ment, where he represented 
one county continuously 
for thirty-two years. It 
was during this public career that he became inter- 
ested in prison reform and the relief of those who 
had been imprisoned for debt. Finally he came to 
the conclusion that little could be done to better 
their condition in England, but that it would be well 
for them and for Eno-land also if in the new world 
some place could be made where they could obtain 
a fresh start. 

With this in view, and with no hope of personal 
profit for himself, in June, 1732, Oglethorpe re- 
ceived from King- Georofe II. a charter for the ter- 
ritory between the Savannah and the Altamaha 




JAMFS OCIETHORPE 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 175 

Rivers, and westward to the Pacific Ocean. Under 
this charter a corporation was organized to hold the 
land in trust for the poor. In honor of King 
George the colony was named Georgia. 

In November, 1732, with one hundred and twenty 
emigrants, Oglethorpe sailed from England and on 
the first of February of the following year a settle- 
ment was planted where now stands the beautiful 
city of Savannah. As was the case with William 
Penn, Oglethorpe met the Indians in a spirit of 
kindness, and was ever their friend in deed as well 
as in name. The sale of rum was forbidden and 
trade with them could be carried on under wise 
regulations only. Slavery was positively prohibited. 
To this colony, ruled so generously and so justly, 
came many emigrants from Scotland, Austria, and 
Switzerland, aside from England. 

The nearness of Georgia to the Spanish posses- 
sions in Florida was a source of constant turmoil. 
When, in 1739, hostilities, known as King George's 
War, broke out between England and Spain, at the 
head of one thousand soldiers and a larofe number 
of Indian allies Oglethorpe marched against St. 
Augustine. The siege lasted over a month. Then 
the Georgians, though they had fought bravely 
and had withstood the ravages of sickness in addi- 
tion to the discomforts and dangers of camp and 



176 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

combat, were compelled to retreat to their own 
territory. 

Ill 11^2, the Spanish, with a fleet of over thirty 
vessels and three thousand men, in turn attacked 
Georgia. Then, as the force against him was over- 
whelming, Oglethorpe resorted to stratagem. The 
Spaniards were lured into an ambush where before 
escape could be made more than two hundred were 
shot down. This battlefield was called the " Bloody 
Marsh." Soon afterwards the squadron withdrew 
from Georgia, as the Georgians themselves previ- 
ously had done from Florida. 

In 1743 Oglethorpe returned to England, where 
finally he passed away at the advanced age of nearly 
one hundred years. For himself he had sought 
neither fame nor riches. The greater part of his 
life was spent in efforts to better the condition of 
his fellow men. To this end he willingly shared the 
dangers and privations of colonial life. His motives 
were j^ure and his record is without blemish. De- 
servedly he occupies a prominent place among the 
leaders of colonial times. 

After the departure of Oglethorpe, conditions in 
Georgia gradually changed. In fact, some of the 
early regulations did not seem to be ada2:)ted to the 
rapid growth of the colony. At last, that large 
plantations could be cultivated, slavery was intro- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 177 

duced. Ill 1752 the charter was surrendered to the 
king and Georgia became a royal colony. By the 
time of the Revolution, it was both rich and pros- 
perous. 

Space will allow us to make only a brief reference 
to the remaining colonies. The history of many of 
them is connected intimately with what already has 
been told. 

Connecticut, until the year 1630, when it adopted 
a separate constitution, was included in the territory 
claimed by the Puritans and was under the same 
government as Massachusetts. The name is taken 
from Indian words meanino" " land neaT the long' 
river." Its early settlers were Puritans who moved 
from Massachusetts. Hartford was founded in 1635 
and New Haven two years later, by colonists from 
Boston. The neighboring Indians, the Pequods, 
caused much trouble. They desired to exterminate 
the whites and with this in view sought the help of 
the Narragansetts and other tribes. They might 
have been successful and the entire colony have 
been killed, had it not been for Roger Williams, 
who came from Rhode Island at the risk of his life 
and by his skillful pleading prevented the alliance. 

The continuing outrages of the Pequods brought 
on a war. It closed with the destruction of the 
Pequod fort by Connecticut soldiers, when six hun- 



178 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

dred Indians, men, women, and children, met death 
by fire or bullet. From then to the time of the 
French and Indian War, the history of this colony is 
one of comparative peace and quiet, as well as of 
great prosperity. 

The name Rhode Island has an interesting origin. 
In the early years of the fourteenth century a 
religious order, known as the Knights of St. John, 
was organized to take part in the Crusades, which 
had for their object to rescue from the possession of 
the infidels, the tomb of Christ in Palestine. The 
little Isle of Rhodes, lying southwest of Greece in 
the Mediterranean Sea, was successfully held by 
these knights, against the fierce attack of a horde of 
Mohammedans. In memory of this heroic defence, 
in which the Christians were victorious, this colony, 
founded as a place of refuge for the persecuted of 
all countries, was called Rhode Island. 

We have seen how in 163G Roger Williams, ban- 
ished from Massachusetts, laid out a plantation on 
the present site of the city of Providence, in which 
he welcomed the down trodden and oppressed. This 
was the beginning of the settlement. The first 
government was very simple, with Roger Williams 
as the just but lenient ruler. In 1641 a constitution 
was adopted, providing for absolute liberty in re- 
ligious matters and declaring that the vote of the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 179 

majority should govern. In 1644 a charter was 
obtained from the Long Parliament which had 
driven Charles I. from the English throne ; and in 
1663, after the restoration of Cliarles II., it was re- 
issued, conferring on the colonists the rights and 
privileges they had been enjoying. Rhode Island 
had no constitution, other than this charter, until 
1842. Though small in territory, this colony played 
a not unimportant part in the development of the 
new world. 

Delaware is so named in honor of Lord De La 
Ware, the first governor of Virginia under its second 
charter, which embraced the country from Cape Fear 
to Sandy Hook. Later the land was included in 
the grant to William Penn, and was part of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1691, it insisted on withdrawing, and 
was given a separate government. This territory 
also was claimed by New York, and in another 
chapter you have read how the Dutch under Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant conquered the Swedes who settled 
here in 1637. 

The early history of New Hampshire, like that of 
Connecticut, to a great extent is connected with 
Massachusetts. The original grant was in 1622, 
from the Council of Plymouth to Ferdinand Gorges 
and John Mason. The name was bestowed by 
Mason, who for many years had been governor of 



180 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

South Sea Castle, on the coast of Hampshire, Eng- 
land. A union with Massachusetts was formed in 
1642 and lasted until 1679. Again, in 1698, the 
same governor was placed over Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire, although there were separate legis- 
lative assemblies. The final separation came in ] 741. 
Originally New Jersey was included in the grant 
to the Duke of York. That portion of the territory 
between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers was as- 
signed by York to Lord Berkeley and Sir George 
Carteret. In honor of the man last named, who 
had been o-overnor of the Isle of Jersev, near Eno- 
land, the country was called New Jersey. With 
the founding of Elizabethtown in 1664, the history 
of the colony commences. 

The first assembly, convened in 1668, was com- 
posed largely of Puritans, and the early laws and 
customs were in many respects similar to those of 
Massachusetts. In 1676, as we have seen, William 
Penn became interested in western New Jersey and 
many Quakers settled there. For years, affairs were 
much confused because of conflicting claims to the 
land and to the right to govern. The Duke of 
York, William Penn, and representatives of Carteret 
or Berkeley, insisted on all or at least part of the 
colony. At length, in 1702, private claims were 
withdrawn and New Jersey became a royal province. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 181 

Till 1738, when it became a separate colony with a 
royal governor of its own, it was nnder the same 
ofovernor as New York. 

Maryland first was explored by Captain John 
Smith. In 1631, William Clayborne, an English 
surveyor, made a map of the country for the London 
Company. At this time the territory now embraced 
in Maryland, was included in Virginia under the 
second charter. Two years before, however. Sir 
George Calvert, also called Lord Baltimore, who 
desired a place of refuge in the new world, for dis- 
tressed Catholics, had obtained from King Charles I. 
a charter for the colony afterwards called Maryland, 
in honor of the king's wife, Henrietta Maria. In 
March, 1634, the first emigrants arrived and eventu- 
ally settled at St. Mary's, the oldest colony of 
Maryland. 

The growth was rapid and the early days were 
full of happiness and prosperity. Then came civil 
dissension. Clayborne, already mentioned, incited 
a rebellion. Though in the outset successful, in 
1646 he was defeated. In 1654 there again was 
civil war. The Protestants, who never could have 
come into the colony but for the liberality of the 
Catholics, now were in the majority and passed laws 
taking away from Catholics the right to vote, and 
imposing other hardships upon them. 



182 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

111 the revolt which followed, the Protestants 
were victorious and many of the Catholic leaders 
were executed. Stormy times and chano'es in irov- 
eminent continued till 1715, when the heirs of Lord 
Baltimore were restored to power and till the Revo- 
lution Maryland was governed under their authority. 

It should be remembered that in Maryland, first, 
religious liberty was assured to all. Though founded 
by persecuted Catholics, freedom for those of other 
religious beliefs was announced there two years 
before Rogfer Williams was driven from Massachu- 
setts. 

Already mention has been made of the settlement 
on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, made by the 
English sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, and famous for 
the birth of Virginia Dare ; and also of the first 
settlement in South Carolina, made at Port Royal in 
1562, by French Huguenots under John Ribault. 
As we have seen, the fort they erected was called 
Carolina in honor of Kino- Charles of France. This 
name was preserved by the English. 

The history of these colonies properly begins with 
the grant of land made in 1663 by Charles II. to 
Lord Clarendon and six other noblemen, and includ- 
ing both the Carolinas. The first constitution, 
drawn in England, was remarkably long, containing 
one hundred and twenty-nine articles. It granted 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 183 

orders of nobility and placed all offices in the hands 
of the wealthy. 

Every attempt to force this system on the colonists 
failed, and the early settlers governed themselves, 
humbly but satisfactorily. About 1676, the English 
proprietors of the colony essayed to operate an un- 
just system of taxation on commerce, and Culpepper's 
rebellion followed. John Culpepi^er, leader in this 
insurrection, was chosen governor by the people, 
and Lord Clarendon, disgusted with the situation of 
afPairs, sold out his rights to Seth Slothel, as avari- 
cious and mean a despot as ever ruled. 

Slothel was succeeded in 1689 by Ludwell, under 
whom there was peace for six years. Ludwell's 
successors were, in the main, good men and the 
colonists had little of which to complain. They 
had the usual Indian war, with the usual result that 
the savages were defeated. One peculiarity in the 
history of the Carolinas is the absence of religious 
interest. There was no minister and no church, till 
early in the eighteenth century. 

The system of slavery was introduced early, and 
quickly increased in favor. Immigration to this 
rich land was rapid, and included colonists from 
Scotland, Ireland, and Holland, as well as England. 
There also came many Huguenots from France. In 
1670 Old Charleston was founded, so called in honor 



184 EAKLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

of Charles II. The present city of Charleston was 
founded in 1680. In 1702, while there was war 
between Spain and England, the colonists tried to 
capture St. Augustine, but were not successful. As 
" tit for tat," in 1706 the French and Spaniards 
besieged Charleston, but were defeated after a stub- 
born attack. From the time of the separation of 
North and South Carolina in 1729, till the Revolu- 
tion, there was tranquillity and prosi)erity. 

With the close of this cliaj)ter, for the present we 
shall leave the Atlantic coast, and see wdiat, in the 
meantime, France has been doing in the country to 
the north and also in the interior of the continent. 
When we again take up the history of these colonies, 
it will be to follow them in a war against the French 
and Indians, and a little later in the war by which 
they achieved their independence. 

It must not be supposed that in this volume is 
given a complete account of the colonies or of their 
exploration and settlement. The greatest pleasure 
in the study of history comes from the fact that no 
one book and no one person can tell you all about 
any country, any period, or any man. On the pre- 
ceding pages something has been said regarding 
each of the thirteen colonies, and the character of 
the people who settled them. You have been told 
something also about a few of the early explorers. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 185 

Tt is to be hoped that you will investigate further, 
seek out for yourselves the facts, and form your 
own opinions. 

Naturally we have emphasized the points which 
seem to us most interesting and most important. 
As you read elsewhere, you may think that much 
we have omitted is of more consequence than the 
matters upon which we have dwelt. If you so do, 
we shall not take it as a criticism. We simply dis- 
play to you a few coarse grains of gold, that we may 
lead you to the threshold of the treasure house 
wherein are stored the riches of the past. If you 
will enter through its open portals, and freely help 
yourselves, we shall be satisfied, although in your 
wonder at the countless wealth disclosed, you forget 
the humble guides who pointed out the way. 



XV. 
MARQUETTE THE PRIEST. 
How the Enolish obtained control of the Atlantic 



o 



coast from Florida to Maine now has been outlined, 
and also how Spain gained the mastery in the 
southern extremity of the continent. We have seen 
that French settlements were attempted in Florida 
and Carolina, but met with disaster. French Hugue- 
nots in laroe numbers emigfrated to some of the 
colonies, particularly to Georgia, but they placed 
themselves under English rule. As, during the 
years of English exploration and colonization, France 
was a great and prosperous nation, and then, as now, 
intensely jealous of England, she must have taken 
some important steps to further her interests in the 
new world. Let us ascertain what they were. 

With some surprise we shall learn that at one 
time the very heart of the continent seemed hers. 
Had she but kept what she explored and what with 
great justness she claimed, in comparison with her 
possessions the holdings of the English speaking 
people in North America would be insignificant. 
The language, the customs, and the laws of France 

186 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



187 



would have prevailed over the fairest portions of 
the country now included in the United States. 

About the middle of the sixteenth century James 
Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River and sailed 
beyond the present sites of Montreal and Quebec. 
In 1541, near where Quebec now stands, he built a 
small fort, but attempts to establish a colony were 




QUKBF.C HAKHnu. 



unsuccessful. In 1603, Samuel Champlain erected 
on the present site of Quebec a fort as a base for 
explorations, and also for use by the fur traders. 
He again came to this country in 1608, and then 
the real foundations of Quebec were laid. 

The settlements at and around Quebec rapidly in- 
creased in population and importance. From the 
country of the St. Lawrence the hardy Frenchmen 



188 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

quickly pushed their way west and south into the 
region of the Great Lakes. Then efforts were made 
to find the Mississippi and to follow it to its mouth. 
In this chapter, by noting- the adventures of Mar- 
quette, the Jesuit, we shall obtain an idea of these 
plans of France and how, at this time, she seemed 
about to become the ruling power in the west. 

In all French explorations, the Jesuits, a Catholic 
religious order, took a most prominent part. If in 
the north and west, France was the pioneer of na- 
tions, the Jesuit was the pioneer of France. Bound 
by his vows to poverty, chastity, and obedience, 
trained under the hand and eye of a skillful master, 
till nature was conquered and self was obliterated, 
he labored as cheerfully among the lowest savages 
as in the most refined circles of Europe. Two 
motives were uppermost in his mind : to promote 
the glory of God, and to advance the interests of 
his order. 

Braving the terrors of a Canadian winter, the 
Jesuit journeyed with the Indians from village to 
village ; he shared the wigwam, the coarse, unpala- 
table food, and the hard couch of his companions. 
He asked no respite from the severest labor, he 
stayed not for wasting sickness, he stood unmoved 
before the direst forms of death, trusting, to use the 
words of one of them, " in that Providence which 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 189 

feeds the little birds of the desert, and clothes the 
wild flowers of the forest." 

To such privations he added vigils, fastings, and 
scourgings without number. No hardships were 
too severe, no undertaking too hazardous. He de- 
prived himself of all the comforts of civilized life, if 
he might win to the religion of the Cross the un- 
civilized tribes that dwelt in iiiiiorance around him. 

Of these Jesuits one of the most zealous was 
Marquette, who represented in his life all the ancient 
purity of his order. 

When he commenced the work we are about to 
describe, Marquette was thirty -five years of age. 
He was of medium stature, of pleasant countenance, 
of modest demeanor, and of singular earnestness 
and zeal. Cultured and courtly, versed in the 
learning of his day, he had spent seven years among 
the Indians, most of the time in the region about 
Mackinaw. To him, cold and hunger, hardship and 
suffering, and even death itself, were nothing could 
he win but one heathen soul to the worship of Christ. 

About the middle of the seventeenth century 
Talon, the acting governor of Canada, had formed 
the design of gaining possession of New York and 
thus separating New England from Florida. French 
diplomacy had failed at a most important period of 
the negotiations, and the scheme had been aban- 



190 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

doned. It still was possible, however, to restrict the 
English to the narrow belt between the Alleghanies 
and the coast. France must at once explore and 
possess the interior of the continent. 

In 1671, Talon called a congress of the Indian 
tribes, to convene at the Falls of St. Mary between 
Lakes Superior and Huron. Fourteen prominent 
tribes were represented. There was a great throng 
of Indians. It was a morning in early June when 
they gathered on a sunny slope, which was covered 
with maples and evergreens, and stretched away to 
where the boundino- waters of the river foamed with 
silvery whiteness. The French officers were dressed 
in their gay uniforms and the priests in their full 
robes. 

On the crest of the hill the Frenchmen raised a 
cedar cross, and pressing about it, bowed their un- 
covered heads, and sang a grand old hymn of the 
seventh century, commencing, 

" The banners of the King advance, 
Tlie mysteries of the Cross sliiiie forth." 

Beside the cross was planted also a post of cedar, 
engraved with the royal arms. Then proclamation 
was made in the name of the high, mighty, and 
redoubtable monarch, Louis the XIV., most Christian 
King of France, taking possession of all lands dis- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 191 

covered and yet to be discovered, from the Great 
Lakes of the Northwest to the Pacific Ocean. Thus 
France claimed the heart of the continent. 

Still it remained to make good the claim by actual 
exploration. From time to time since first the 
French had settled on the St. Lawrence, rumors had 
reached them of a mighty river towards the west, 
flowing southward from the frozen north to the 
land of perpetual summer, until finally its waters 
mingled with those of a salty sea. One hundred 
and fifty years previously, the Spaniard, De Soto, 
as we have seen, had reached this " Hidden River," 
and his companions had followed it to the Gulf of 
Mexico. Now, the French determine upon an 
expedition to find this mysterious stream, and, if 
possible, to trace it to the sea. 

For this mission, a fur trader, one Joliet, was se- 
lected and Marquette was ordered to go with him as 
a missionary. He accepted it as a grateful service, 
saying, " If my perilous journey be attended with 
no other advantaoe than the salvation of a sinode 
soul, I shall be amply repaid." They took but five 
companions and their whole outfit consisted of two 
bark canoes, some smoked beef and dried corn. 
How different from the departure of De Soto ! But 
they carried brave hearts and were men nerved by a 
worthy object — to carry the Lilies of France and 



lit 2 



PEARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



the Cross of Christianity to the far-off regions of 
the " Hicklen River. " 

In May, 1673, they paddled along- the coast of 
Lake Michigan to Green -Bay, up the Fox River, 
and in June crossed Lake Winnehago. The Indians 




MARQ0KTTE AND .TOLIET EXPLORING THE WlS'iTSSIPPI. 

guided them to the waters of the Wisconsin. The 
voyagers worked up the channel of Fox River, thick 
with wild rice, until they came to the portage. 
Then they carried their canoes for a mile and one- 
half across the watershed, and launched them upon 
the Wisconsin River. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 193 

Here, dismissing their guides, thej severed the 
last link that bound them to civilization, and turned 
their faces toward untokl dangers, in unknown re- 
gions. With the current they floated, in ahiiost 
utter silence — 

" Now tlirough the foivst i)riiiieval, and now l)y the l)uuiid- 

less beautiful prairies, 
Billowy bays of gold, ever rolling in suusliine and shadow" — 

until, on the 17th of June, they emerged from the 
Wisconsin into the broad and swift Mississippi. 
The explorers, having accomplished one of their 
objects, at once landed, erected a cross, and gave 
thanks to God. 

They proceeded to advance with the greatest 
caution, carefully extinguishing their lires after 
cooking their evening meals, and anchoring their 
boats at night in the middle of the river. They 
wondered at the strange fish, and at the immense 
herds of buffalo which covered the prairie. Raising 
a sail, they glided rapidly over broad bars of sand, 
and skirted islands thick with trees of oak and Cot- 
tonwood. Now high bluffs shut out the view, and 
as'ain the extent of the prairie seems illimitable on 
either hand. Now they float in the cooling shade 
of the woody banks, and anon all day their course 
is where the glossy waters glimmer in the melting 
pflare of the summer sun. 



194 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

If we trust the account given by Marquette, 
who kept a faithful journal of the voyage, on the 
25th of June they were near the Des Moines River. 
Up to this time they had seen no signs of inhabi- 
tants. But here on the western shore a well worn 
trail led down to the river and Marquette and 
Joliet followed it into the prairie. Undoubtedly 
they were the first white men who ever trod the 
soil of Iowa. 

At the distance of six miles an Indian villao-e was 
found on the banks of the Des Moines. Unperceived, 
thev come so near as to hear the men talkino- in their 
cabins. Commending themselves to the care of 
Heaven, they utter a cry. At once the village is 
the scene of great confusion. Men, children, and 
squaws in crowds swarm out from the wigwams. 
Soon four old men advance holding aloft, adorned 
with variegated feathers, the calumet, the famous 
pipe of peace." 

The Indians proved to be the Illinois. They wel- 
comed the Frenchmen to their wigwams and prepared 
a great feast. The usual Indian palaver was held, 
at which Marquette attempted to tell of the great- 
ness of the French king, and the power of the one 
true God. The Indian chief in return assured them 
that their coming improved the flavor of his tobacco 
^nd made all nature seem more glad, "All our 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 195 

people," he said, ''have waited for tliee and thou 
shalt enter our cabins in peace." 

Escorted by six hundred warriors, Marquette re- 
turned to his boats, and as a parting gift, priceless 
in the eyes of an Indian, the chief hung about his 
neck the sacred calumet, Avhich all Indians must 
respect. 

Again their course was down the stream. Soon 
they came to where the turbulent Missouri pours its 
waters into the placid Mississippi. Their light 
canoes were tossed hither and thither upon the waves 
of the swollen stream. Even the trusting mind of 
Marquette was filled with fear. He declares that 
he never was so terrified before in all his life. 

Afterwards their voyage was peaceful and quiet. 
The magic calumet protected them from hostile 
Indians and the balmy air brought health and vigor. 
Below the mouth of the Arkansas River, seven 
hundred miles from the Gulf, they resolved to go no 
farther. The Indians showed hostile sio;ns ; the 
heat was intolerable. They knew not how near 
they were to Spanish settlements, and they feared 
lest they might perish and all the benefits of their 
expedition be lost. So on the 17th of July they 
turned their canoes towards home and Quebec. 

The journey before them was enough to appal 
the bravest mind. Slowly, with patient hearts 



190 EAULY AAIERICAN HISTORY 

never weary, they ascended the stream. All day 
they paddled or rowed against the strong- current of 
the river, strengthened by the thought that they 
carried with them great tidings of success. 

When they anchored at night, the vapors from 
the lowLmds and swamps were heavy with disease. 
At times their strength gave out, and their courage 
well nigh failed them. It Avas like the struggle of 
strong men battling against fate. Marcpiette was 
sick for days, and here contracted the disease which 
ended his life. 

Finally, by the way of the Illinois River, friendly 
Indians guided them to Lake Michigan near the 
present site of Chicago. The last of September, 
the whole company reached Green Bay. During 
the four months of their absence they had rowed 
over twenty-five hundred miles. 

It had been ascertained that the Hidden River 
flowed into neither the Gulf of California nor the 
South Sea, but into the Gulf of Mexico. The French 
fla<>' and the Cross of Christ had been carried into 
the regions of the Mississippi valley. All that had 
been intended at the start had been accomplished. 
For simplicity, boldness, and completeness, the voyage 
is almost unparalleled in history. 

The health of Maripiette was injured beyond re- 
covery. On the 19th of May, 1675, on the banks 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY I97 

of a little stream wliicli flows into Lake Michio-au 
from the east, a bark shed his only protection from 
the weather, the pious missionary rested with his 
little company. He made it the subject of devout 
thanksgiving' that through tlie immense grace of 
God he was to die a Jesuit, a missionary of the 
Cross, and above all to die in a wretched cabin, 
amid the forest, far from all human aid. In the 
middle of the night he called to his companions and 
gave them his blessing. His last words were, " I be- 
lieve that my Redeemer liveth." 

Thus, with the name of Jesus on his lips, Mar- 
tj[uette died. His companions buried him in the 
sand, but in the fall the Indians took up his remains 
and with rude pomp and ceremony bore them to 
Mackinaw, where they placed them beneath the 
floor of the mission. The place of his first burial 
still is pointed out to the traveler. 

Great is the contrast between De Soto and Mar- 
quette. Both were bold, patient, and long suffering ; 
both died shortly after finding the great river. But 
De Soto passed away, broken-hearted and discour- 
aged because he had not found cities rich in gold, 
while Marquette peacefully closed his eyes in death, 
happy with the thought that he had been permitted 
to lose his life in the service of his King and for the 
glory of his God. 



198 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

For generations the Indians revered his name and 
cherished his memory. Says a historian of New 
France, " The light breeze from the lake sang his 
requiem, and the Indian tribes were his mourners. 
For many years, whenever the storms of the lake 
swept over the Indian's frail canoe, he called upon 
the name of Marquette, and the winds ceased and 
the waves were stilled." 



XVI. 
LA SALLE THE SOLDIER. 

The designs of the French in the Mississippi val- 
ley did not end with the death of Marquette. Soon 
the work was taken up by another brave explorer, 
Robert Cavelier de la Salle. Tliis young- adventurer 
came over from France in 1666. Born of wealthy 
parents of Norman descent, disinherited under a 
French law because he had renounced the relioious 
vows which he once had taken, he obtained a grant 
of land near the present city of Montreal. 

A sturdy, manly frame, a moody, quiet nature, 
La Salle dwelt by himself, and carefully studied the 
Indian languages. Undoubtedly he dreamed of a 
future empire in the vast regions of the St. Lawrence, 
while the Indians told him of boundless seas and a 
mighty stream in the country that stretched to the 
far west. He became possessed with the idea of 
winning for himself fame and riches, by exploring 
this great river, obtaining personal control over the 
valuable fur trade in the country tributary to it, and 
establishino' the dominion of the kinodom of France. 
In his mind was even the thought that the Mississippi 




STATUE OF LA SALLE, EUKCTED IN LINCIOLX PARK, CHICAGO, ILL. 



EARLY AMERrCAN HISTORY 201 

miglit empty into the Gulf of California, and furnish 
him Avith a direct route to the wealth of China and 
India. The desire of Columbus, Magellan, and 
Hudson now burned in the breast of La Salle ! 

Marquette Avas so religious, that while he had no 
fears of personal danger, he also had no thought of 
profit for himself. La Salle was a man who lacked 
reliofious motive. He was discreet and discernino- 
wary and cautious, but never wavering from his 
purpose. A man of kingly intellect, of wondrous 
originality, of undoubted genius, he finished what 
Marquette commenced, and, like him, he paid the 
penalty of death. 

There are two years of his life, 1669—70, of which 
there is no record. It is possible that during this 
period he visited the Mississippi, but the weight of 
evidence is against the supposition. At this time, 
1670, the governor of Canada was Count Frontenac, 
a man of rare executive ability, irritable and domi- 
neering, politic and cautious. He was a man such 
as now we sometimes find, of a character sharp and 
angular , a man full of mean points, and yet to be 
trusted and relied upon when the times demanded 
steadfastness and courage. One who is a safe guide 
in times of peace is not by any means always the 
surest counselor in times of war. Frontenac was a 
"good hater,'' but an unchanging friend. Between 



202 . EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

linn and La Salle there existed a stroiiu' bond of 
unity. 

In 1673 Count Frontenae, with La Salle, estab- 
lished a fort on the shore of Lake Ontario, at the 
place where Kingston, now stands. It was called 
Fort Frontenac, and became a place noted in French 
and American history. La Salle immediately crossed 
the ocean, gained the consent of the French ministry 
to his plans, and was made governor of the fort and 
owner of a large part of the surrounding territory. 

He applied all his energies to improving his estate. 
His fields waved with luxuriant grain, and the forest 
about him became instinct with life. He erected a 
new fort of stone, gathered about him masons, 
laborers, and canoe men, and built boats and vessels 
for the fur trade. His men w^ere exercised until 
they could shoot with safety the most dangerous 
rapids in the river. Little was said to anvone con- 
cerning his plans, hut he was jjreparing his forces 
for the dangers of exploration, and intended Fort 
Frontenac as a base of supplies. 

The news of Marquette's voyage increased his 
zeal, and strengthened his determination, but it did 
not hasten his plans. He again crossed the ocean, 
and obtained a commission to explore the Mississippi 
valley, and also a monopoly of the trade in buffalo 
skins, on condition that he should furnish the money 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 203 

for his outfit. With him returned Tonti, an Italian, 
who ever after was his friend, a wise counselor, and 
a sturdy defender. At Quebec, La Salle met Father 
Hennepin, a Jesuit to whom further reference will 
be made. 

La Salle then built a storehouse at the mouth of 
the Niagara River. He was occupied during the 
winter of 1(378-79 in constructinsf above the falls a 
vessel with which to cross Lake Erie. In the dead of 
winter, all his material was carried around the falls, 
a distance of twelve miles. Laden with anchors and 
cables, with ropes and carpenter's tools, the men 
climbed the steep, slippery heights of Lewiston. As 
they toiled slowly along the banks of the Niagara 
the cold, cutting wind blew full in their faces, the 
deej), drifting snows of January impeded their course, 
while the water of the mighty cataract filled their 
ears with its grand music. 

As soon as the carjjenters were ready to lay the 
keel of the vessel, La Salle, leaving Tonti in com- 
mand, made his way on snow shoes two hundred 
and fifty miles back to Fort Frontenac. Tonti for- 
warded the work on the ship as rapidly as possible. 
The savages gathered in numbers about him and 
threatened to burn the vessel on the stocks. His 
men, being short of provisions, became moody and 
discontented. Yet when the ice left the river, the 



204: EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

craft of sixty tons was ready for the waters. She 
bore the name of a horrid monster, '' The Griffin." 

In the meantime, with all his energies. La Salle 
was fiohtinof his enemies at Frontenac. The Jesuit 
and the fur trader, jealous of the fame and power 
which would come to him through success, combined 
to ruin his enterprise. His creditors attached all his 
property and left him without means. With such 
supplies as he could gather through the influence of 
the governor and his friends, he returned to his 
men, who long had been awaiting his arrival at the 
mouth of the Niagara ; and on the seventh of August, 
1679, the good ship " Griffin " sailed over the Avaters 
of Lake Erie, where never ship had sailed before. 
Then she ascended the Detroit River into Lake 
Huron. There fearful tempests were encountered, 
but at last, with great jov, the good ship anchored 
in the harbor of Mackinaw. 

Li September, La Salle proceeded to Green Bay 
and loading the '" Griffin " with furs, sent her back 
to Niagara with orders to return at once with sup. 
plies to where the St. Joseph flows into Lake Michi- 
gan. He himself, with four canoes laden with all 
material necessary for commencing a settlement, 
worked his course, beset by terrific storm.s, down 
the western coast of L;ike Michigan until he reached 
the St. Joseph. Here he was joined by Tonti, 



EAIJLY AMERICAN HISTORY 205 

The difficulties in the way seemed insurmountable. 
His enemies filled the ears of the Indians with lies 
concerning- his designs. Twice poison was mingled 
with his food, and his men deserted him. In the 
face of these discouragements, he established on the 
lake a rude fort, which he called Fort Miami, and 
then ascended the St. Joseph, crossed the portage to 
the Kankakee, and dragging the canoes over the ice, 
descended the Illinois River to where Peoria now 
stands. It was said that in all his party there were 
but four men whom he could trust, but four loyal 
hearts anion o- all his followers. 

A fevr miles below Peoria he built another fort 
which he called Cnlve Coeur. or Broken Heart, in 
memory of the pain and suffering he already had 
endured. Here he learned that the ship, " The 
Griffin," upon which he had relied to connect him 
with his base of supjilies, was lost. It never was 
known whether she was destroyed through treachery 
or foundered in the storm. The disaster could not 
be repaired. Not only were the colonists almost 
destitute, but all his jjlans were wrecked with the 
ship and he must begin anew. 

Yet the lion heart of La Salle quailed not, nor did 
he abate one jot of his high hopes. To give em- 
ployment to his men he commenced constructing a 
boat in which to go down the Mississippi. He sent 



206 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Father Hennepin in a canoe to descend the Illinois 
to the Mississippi and to explore that to its source if 
possible. Then leaving Tonti in command, with 
three men La Salle set off on foot to find his way 
from Fort Creve Cceur back to Fort Frontenac. 

The distance was over one thousand miles. The 
snow was just disappearing- and the ground was 
saturated with water. To-day they were wading 
knee deep in slush and to morrow they were drenched 
with rain. The prairie was one discolored mass of 
snow, ice, and mud. They were tracked by hos- 
tile Indians ; their way was obstructed by swollen 
streams ; huno-er and thirst wasted their streno-th. 
The men one by one fell sick, and only the iron 
frame of La Salle was equal to the task. When he 
reached Niagara, he was greeted with the additional 
woeful news that an expected ship from France, 
bringing men and supplies, had been wrecked at the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence. 

There is no record of his thoughts as he pursued 
his road from Niao-ara to Frontenac. Man and 
nature seemed combined against him. Could he tri- 
umph over all ? The whole journey embraced sixty- 
five days. " The most arduous journey," says a 
historian, "ever made by Frenchmen in America." 
Yet this was not a man hardened in his youth by 
exposure in camps and trained to toil. His youth 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 207 

had been passed in affluence ; he was a man of cul- 
ture and letters, fitted to grace the gorgeous court 
of the French king. 

He hastened from Frontenac to Montreal, refuted 
the base lies of his still active enemies, and in one 
week obtained fresh munitions and new men, and 
started on his return. As he was embarking, swift 
messengers, sent by Tonti, brought tidings that the 
men at Fort Creve Cceur had mutinied, and were 
on their return, part of them making for Albany to 
sell the furs they had stolen, and others aiming for 
Fort Frontenac to kill him. He laid his plans so 
skillfully that he captured or shot nearly all the 
rascals and recovered the furs. 

During this time Father Hennepin had descended 
the Illinois, and had explored the ^Mississippi as far 
as the Falls of St. Anthony. He was captured by 
the Sioux, and escaping, found his way back to the 
Jesuit Mission on Green Bay. Had Hennepin told 
only the truth concerning his exploits, he would be 
entitled to a very honorable mention among French 
explorers. But in after years, by asserting that in 
this voyage he descended to the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi, a claim not credited by any respectable 
historian, he attempted to rob La Salle of hard won 
fame. 

Bancroft says of Hennepin : " He was not merely 



20 S EARLY A:\IEKir'.\N HISTORY 

a light-hearted, ambitious explorer, but a boastful 
liar." We sometimes find in society a man who has 
the wonderful power of inflating- himself. Puffed 
up with his own breath, imagining himself the ad- 
mired of all admirers, he floats along on the top of 
the current, until some unfriendly hand pricks the 
bubble, and he vanishes in an instant. Such a man 
was Hennepin and such was his fate. 

With twenty-five men La Salle once more em- 
barked, to discover, if possible, what had become of 
his faithful ally, Tonti. He followed his former 
route, but as he advanced to the country of the Illi- 
nois, he met with scenes of cruel devastation and 
utter ruin. The fierce Iroquois, incited by La Salle's 
enemies, who hoped that in the conflict his plans 
would be defeated and that perhaps he himself and 
Tonti would be killed, had come almost unawares 
upon the Illinois tribe. Near wdiere the village of 
Utica now stands, were found only half-consumed 
huts and unburied bodies. The Iroquois had not 
spared even the graves of their enemies. In hopes 
of finding some trace of Tonti, the party continued 
down the Illinois River towards the Mississippi. On 
everv hand were signs of savage warfare, of hasty 
flight, of unwavering pursuit. 

They reached the Mississippi, the Hidden River, 
to discover which had cost La Salle so many years 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 209 

of his life, so much treasure, so many hardships; 
and yet so firm was his friendship for the Italian, 
that he refused to descend it now, and retraced his 
steps to Lake Michigan. 

Another winter passed before a messenger brought 
La Salle word that Tonti was safe at Green Bay. 
As soon as this was assured, he set himself at work 
to restore peace among the Lulians. 

All the injnry his enemies ever had done him be- 
fore was as nothing compared with the evil they did 
in stirring up the Lidian war. But in dealing with 
the savages he had no equal. They called him the 
greatest orator in North America. He visited the 
Miami, condoled with the Illinois and gave them 
presents, warned the Iroquois to refrain from 
making war upon the children of the French king, 
and won the friendship of the scattered tribes who 
had fled from the east after the bloody King 
Philip's War. 

For the third time, he went back to Fort Frontenac, 
was rejoined by Tonti, and in the fall of 1681 they 
were again at Fort Miami. The past was but a 
thing of memory. The future was bright before 
him. His determination to explore the great river 
had not abated. 

As the course was towards the warm southwest, 
why should there be delay ? With impatient energy 



210 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

La Salle and Tonti crossed to the Chicago Kiver, 
and thence to the north branch of the Illinois, drag- 
ging their canoes over the icy conrse till they found 
open water below Peoria. There was nothing to 
hinder. Between banks covered with leafless trees, 
by caves in which the ice of winter still lingered, 
with scarce a breath of wind to stir the calm, clear 
air, they rowed or floated until on the sixth of Feb- 
ruary, 1682, they reached the Mississippi. 

For once fortune favored La Salle. Waiting till 
the floating ice had passed, they turned their canoes 
towards the Gulf of Mexico. Evei*y day's advance 
marked a change in the climate. The air grew mild 
and balmy, the trees now w^ere budding, and now 
were in full bloom. On either bank the song of 
birds was heard and the perfume of flowers was in 
every breeze. Presently the waters of the river grew 
brackish, and the salt laden winds brought tidings 
of the sea. Never was sight of land more gladly 
welcomed by storm-tossed mariners, than were the 
blue waves of the Gulf by these patient voyagers. 

To La Salle it was a day of triumph. He saw 
the efforts of years consummated in that hour. No 
wonder that, gathering his companions about him, 
on a dry knoll he planted the flag of France, and all 
shouted, "Vive le Eo'i ! '' No wonder that beside 
it they erected the sacred cross, and bowing in 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



211 



solemn worship sang- the hymns their mother church 
had taught them in sunny France. 

La Salle took possession of the Mississippi valley 
in the name of France. Returning- to the north, he 
built a fort on a lofty elevation near the present city 




LA SALLE TAKING POSSESSION IN THK NAME OF FRANCE. 

of Ottawa, and collected about it twenty thousand In- 
dians. He named it Fort St. Louis. To-day the sight 
whereon it stood is known as Starved Rock ; for 
there, in an Indian war which occurred later, a party 
of Illinois, besieged by their enemies, stubbornly de- 
fended themselves until they slowly starved to death. 



212 EAELY AMERTOAN TTIRTOKY 

In the meantime, Frontenac had been recalled. 
The new governor of Canada proved to be a bitter 
enemy. Leaving Tonti at Fort St. Louis, La, Salle, 
a fourth time crossing" the ocean, appealed to tlie 
court of the French king. For sixteen years he 
had lived in the Avilderness, far from all the refine- 
ments of life. Yet with all the haughty bearing of 
a prince, he entered the royal palace of Versailles, 
and told to the wondering court of Louis the ]\Iag- 
nificent, the burden of his woes. To use liis own 
words, during five years, through snow and through 
water, on foot and in boats, without escort, without 
provisions, without encouragement, without recrea- 
tion, and without repose he had made five journeys 
of more than five thousand leagues. The court was 
moved by his words, and before the story of his daunt- 
less hardihood his enemies were shamed to silence. 

With three hundred men La Salle returned to 
plant a colony at the mouth of the Mississi2)pi. 
Throuofh the treacherv of his i)ilot, he was landed on 
the coast of Texas, three hundred miles west of the 
river, and his ship was wrecked on the shore. 

Here quarrels and misfortune again beset La Salle 
on every side. At last he formed the resolve to 
cross the country on foot from Texas to his colony 
at Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River: a desperate 
resolve, yet worthy of such a man. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 213 

But discontent and treachery were at their highest, 
and wreaked their vengeance. As one morning, he 
walked out from his camp, into tlie prairie, a shot 
from an assassin crashed through his brain, and he 
fell dead on the spot. The conspirators, stripping 
the clothing from his body, threw it into the bushes, 
and left it a prey to the wild beasts. 

Such was the pitiful end of La Salle, one of the 
most wonderful characters to be found in American 
history. Not a breath of suspicion sullies his in- 
tegrity. The record of his honor is untarnished. 
Cool and intrepid, constant in adversity, true to his 
instincts, his hopes expired only with his breath. It 
was his misfortune that he knew not how to concili- 
ate his enemies. In his far reaching plans he was 
wise beyond his times. He sought to be more than 
a mere explorer. 

On the illustrious roll of those who proved them- 
selves as bold in action as they were wise in council, 
who led where it tested the courage of others to 
follow, whose influence is seen like silver threads in 
all the warp of our daily lives, the name of La Salle 
ever must hold an honorable place. 



XVII. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR — 
DEFEAT. 

Originally the claim of Eiigland to North 
America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was 
based on the fact that John Cabot, sailing- under 
her flag, was the first to discover the mainland of 
the continent, June 2-J:, 1J:97 ; and that his son, 
Sebastian Cabot, also a subject of the English king, 
a year later made the first exploration of the 
Atlantic coast from Maine to Cape Hatteras. 
Furthermore, there was the voyage of Sir Francis 
Drake who, in 1578, sailed north along the Pacific 
coast as far as Oregon. 

With the middle of the eighteenth century, 
England had made good her claim by actual owner- 
ship of the soil from Maine to Florida, and west- 
ward to the Alleghanies ; however, the grants 
under which many of the colonies had been settled 
extended indefinitely to the v/est, even to the Pacific 
Ocean. 

In the meantime, France, as we have seen, had 
possessed herself of the country to the north, 

214 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 215 

and had explored the region of the Great Lakes. 
Marquette and La Salle had traced to its mouth the 
Mississippi, and also some of its tributary rivers. 
Therefore, heedless of the claim of England, 
France regarded as hers not only the northern 
country and that around the Lakes, but likewise all 
the land drained by the rivers which flow into the 
Mississippi. So a conflict of claims to territory was 
the main cause of the war with the French and 
Indians, of which we now are to treat. 

There were other causes which tended to bring 
on hostilities. Between friends, a peaceful solution 
of these conflicting; demands mi"ht have been 
found. France and England, however, had been 
avowed enemies for centuries. There ever was 
bitter enmity between them. Often they went 
farther to seek an excuse for a quarrel, than the 
means to avoid one. Added to this was intense 
commercial rivalry. 

Bartering with the Indians for furs was a most 
profitable business. The trapper and the trader 
followed close on the heels of the explorer, and 
pushed far out from the border of the settlements. 
Both French and English companies were organized 
to handle the furs obtained from the Indians, and 
claimed the exclusive right to traffic in the disputed 
territory. Traders dispatched by these companies 



216 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

carried with them a spirit of strife and hatred, 
and by arousing prejudice against their opponents 
endeavored to advance their own interests among- 
the Indians. Thus, with conflicting claims to land, 
an inborn hatred of each other, and rivalry for 
commercial supremacy, war was inevitable. 

The scene of the first hostilities was in the 
beautiful valley of the Ohio. In 1749 a num- 
ber of London and Virginia merchants organized 
for trading purposes the '' Ohio Company " and 
obtained a grant to six thousand acres of land on 
the east bank of the Ohio. This was within the 
limits of Virginia, as that colony claimed the land 
northwest to Lake Erie. It was also in the ter- 
ritory which France regarded as her own, since the 
Ohio flows into the Mississippi. 

For protection and as a base of operations the 
English Company built a fort at Redstone, on the 
Monongahela river in Pennsylvania. To counteract 
this, the French, too, erected a fort on Lake Erie, 
and made evident preparations to drive the English 
from the country. At this point Governor Din- 
widdie of Virginia determined to send a messenger 
to the French fort to demand an explanation, and 
incidentally to find out on the journey all he could 
regarding the situation. For this purpose he selected 
a young Virginian surveyor — George Washington. 



EART.Y AMERICAN HISTORY 217 

Thus did Wasliino^ton enter the service of his 
country. Although not yet twenty-two years old, 
he was inured to the discomforts, hardships and 
perils of life in the wilderness. At the early age 
of sixteen, in charge of a party of surveyors, he 
had penetrated the regions beyond the Blue Ridge 
mountains and had marked out the boundaries of 
the possessions of Lord Fairfax. On the trip he 
had accustomed himself to life in the open air ; 
climbing steep mountains, tramping through the 
pathless forests, swimming swollen rivers, at night 
sleeping, wrapped in his blanket, on the ground, 
and depending entirely on his rifle for food as well 
as defence. 

His work was carried on so successfully that at 
his return he was elected public surveyor, a position 
which he held for three years. When nineteen, he 
was placed over a military district of Virginia, his 
duty being to organize the militia. All this stood 
him in good stead when he undertook the import- 
ant mission for Governor Dinwiddle. 

On October 30, 1753, with an interpreter, a 
guide, and five other companions, Washington set 
out. Storms of rain and snow made it impossible 
to proceed rapidly. The streams had become 
almost impassable. One day the ground under 
foot was soft and muddy, and the next covered 



•218 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

with drifting snow. Food was scarce and no shel- 
ter was to be had save the trees and bushes. 
Every privation and dangvr was encountered by 
the little party, but still they persevered and in 
December arrived at the French post near Lake 
Erie. 

Here the commander, St. Pierre, received Wash- 
ing-ton with the usual French courtesy. He told 
him, however, that he had been stationed there by 
the Governor of Canada, and that he would stay 
till ordered to retire. He also g-ave Washinoton 
a sealed letter to be delivered to Dinwiddle. As 
nothing farther could be accomplished, the return 
trip was commenced. This was, if possible, even 
more trying than had been the outward journey, 
but on January 16 Williamsburg was reached, the 
letter placed in Dinwiddle's hands, and a full report 
made, including many things Washington had seen 
and heard at the French fort. 

In everything connected with this expedition 
Washington had exhibited the bravery, persistence, 
and intellio-ence which characterized him later in 
life. His efforts were fully appreciated. From 
this time he took his place as one of the leading 
public men of Virginia. 

As the letter sent by St. Pierre was not at all 
reassuring, at once decisive preparations for action 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 219 

were commenced. For some reason, many of the 
colonists did not seem to appreciate the situation. 
The legislature, too, was slow to act, though finally 
it did appropriate fifty thousand dollars " for the 
protection of the settlers along the Mississippi," but 
also appointed a commission to keep track of how it 
was expended. The governor, however, was alert 
and did not delay. The military force was increased 
and placed under Col. Joshua Fry, Washington 
being second in command. 

Already, in the disputed territory, the Ohio Com- 
pany had begun to erect a small fort. The spot 
fixed upon was the site of the present city of 
Pittsburg, where the Alleghany and Monongahela 
rivers join to form the Ohio. For this fort, Wash- 
ington started in April, with two companies of 
militia. On the way he learned that the French 
had arrived in force, had captured or dispersed the 
English, and had completed the building, which 
they named Fort Duquesne. Washington still con- 
tinued to advance and on May 28 had a brisk 
and successful skirmish with the enemy. In this 
the French leader and nine of his followers were 
slain. The rest were captured and sent as pris- 
oners to Virofinia. 

Although victorious, Washington was in a posi- 
tion of great peril. The French force was much 



220 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



^1 AKL V KIF 



Y(>K K 




t^ umber land 



superior to his own 
and his supply of food 
was riinnino- short. 
Hastily throwing up 
rude fortifications, 
which he called Fort 
Necessity, he left a 
small oarrison i n 
charge and proceeded 
onward towards Fort 
Duquesne. Soon he 
met a large force of 
French and Indians 
and was compelled to retreat to Fort Necessity, 
where, after making a brave defence for a few 
hours, he at length surrendered, being granted all 
the honors of war. 

Thus Washington's first campaign ended in 
defeat. Still he had yielded to only an overwhelm- 
ing force and had exhibited rare qualities as a 
soldier and leader. The Viroinia Assemblv o'ave 
him a vote of thanks and his troops lost no opportu- 
nity to express their unbroken confidence in him. 
Danger from the French threatened the other 
colonies as well as Virginia, and a convention was 
called at Albany in June, 17^^4, to consider con- 
certed action against a common enemy. Another 



EARLY AMEIJICAN HISTORY 221 

object was to renew a treaty with the neighboring- 
Indians, the Six Nations. Their friendship at this 
critical time was of the utmost importance and the 
defeat of the Virginians was causing them to 
incHne towards the French. With some difficulty, 
the Indians became reassured and renewed their 
treaty. Then a scheme for the confederation of 
the colonies, on a plan in the main outlined by 
Benjamin Franklin, was adopted. 

It provided for a General Council, consisting of 
members from each colony. Its president was to 
be appointed by the king, and the council itself was 
to pass laws of mutual interest to all the colonies, 
provide for the common defence, and decide on 
the amount of money and the proportionate num- 
ber of troops to be raised. This was the first 
attempt at a central government as afterwards 
adopted in the Constitution of the United States. 
It met with favor neither at home nor in England, 
and it was decided to carry on the war, as hereto- 
fore, through the colonies separately with the aid 
of English troops. 

Although war had not yet formally been 
declared, preparations were being made by both 
France and England. A French squadron landed 
four thousand troops in Canada. From England, 
General Braddock was dispatched with two British 



222 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



regiments. Two regiments of militia were ordered 
raised in New England and two in Pennsylvania. 
A campaign was planned which included three 
expeditions, one against the French forts near 
Niagara, one against those on the western shore of 
Lake Champlain, and one against Fort Duquesne. 
Of the expedition last mentioned, Braddock himself 
was in command. 




r^t 



WASHIXtiTON'S EARLY HOME NEAR FREDERICKSBURG. 

In this movement Washington acted as aide de 
camp to Braddock. The Virginian's advice that, 
to save time, a light-armed force of some twelve 
hundred men he pushed on ahead of the main 
body, was followed. But his caution that great 
care be exercised to avoid an ambush was unheeded. 
On July 8, 1755, the army reached the Mononga- 
hela, fifteen miles from the French fort. Here 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 223 

Washingtou begged that a company of Virginia 
troops, accustomed to Indian figliting, be deployed 
in advance to act as scouts and inspect the danger- 
ous trails and passes. Braddock's refusal was curt 
and angry. 

On the morning of July 9, as if on holiday 
parade, the army commenced to cross the river. 
Steel flashing and clashing, flags waving and 
fluttering, officers calling and shouting, steeds 
prancing and neighing, drums beating and fifes 
whistling, epaulets of yellow and sashes of crimson, 
coats of scarlet and trappings of brjjfss, shoulder to 
shoulder and knee to knee into the ford splash the 
British troops. Golden sunshine, green forests, 
azure sky and rippling water — what a sight for the 
despised Virginia rangers as, in their coon skin caps, 
buckskin jackets, fringed leggins and well worn 
moccasins ; with their long barrelled rifles, rude 
powder horns and soiled bullet pouches, they stood 
drawn up on one side of the road while passed this 
cavalcade ! 

What a sight, also, for the eyes of a hideous, 
paint-daubed savage, peering from behind a fallen 
tree or. the opposite bank, and who now silently 
slinks away to bear the news to his companions, 
waiting in ambush beside the narrow, twisting 
trail. 










V- 






Z''*,-^ 


y^ 






■-U ^ 




'""""-^^-^iS 



BRADDOCK"S ROUTE— 1755. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 225 

By two o'clock, the last soldier had crossed. By 
three, the head of the long column had reached a 
stretch of rising ground, where the road was only 
twelve feet wide. On either side was a deep 
ravine, partially concealed by a dense growth of 
trees and underbrush. Still not an enemy had 
been seen. Assuredly Indians and Frenchmen have 
fled in terror. Gladly and jauntily those royal 
soldiers march with swinging step, for soon the flag 
of old England will be flying over Fort Duquesne, 
only a few miles beyond. 

Crack ! From the wayside a single rifle speaks, 
and an officer reels in his saddle. Crash ! From 
every bush and rock and tree flash flame and 
smoke, as Indian rifles, aimed well and true, speed 
their bullets straight to the mark. The startled 
soldiers waver. Who would not, before such sud- 
den onslaught from a hidden foe? 'Tis an instant 
only. Then years of discipline prevail. Slowly, 
steadily, as if at drill, the long line of muskets is 
raised and pointed toward the invisible enemy. 
Crash ! Now a volley is poured into the forest. 
Crash ! crash ! — volley follows volley. In the face 
of this leaden storm mighty armies of Europe have 
been swept away as fallen forest leaves before the 
winter blast. Surely a small band of Frenchmen 
and Indians will be annihilated. Yet not so, for 



226 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the British troops aim high, and from the savages, 
crouched safe in shelter, the fire increases. 

Englishmen are dropping, killed and wounded, 
on every hand. Not an enemy has been seen. It 
is more than flesh and blood can stand. The men 
at the head of the line step back against their com- 
rades. These in turn crowd their fellows. Soon 
each man is jjushing against the one behind him. 
Two men turn to assist a wounded comrade to the 
rear. Others follow them. Now the entire column 
is faced to the rear. All the time the steady fire 
continues. Thus the panic increases, the walk 
becomes a trot, the trot a run, the run a rout, 
which does not cease till the frightened survivors 
reach the quiet streets of Philadelphia. Eight 
hundred Englishmen were slain or injured on this 
day. The French and Indians killed and wounded 
did not exceed seventy. 

What of Washington ? With courage and calm- 
ness, he passed from point to point, carrying Brad- 
dock's orders. Two horses were shot from under 
him, four bullets passed through his clothing, and 
still he was unharmed. A kind Providence was 
preserving him for greater service. 

What of the Virginia militia ? With the first 
fire, each man jumped behind the nearest cover. 
Skilled in the ways of savage warfare, they kept 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 227 

their own bodies protected and fired only when 
they saw an enemy. Thns they fought, and thus, 
falling- back slowly, they covered the retreat of the 
panic stricken regulars. 

What of Braddock? At the first shot he 
hastened forward and placed himself at the head of 
his men. With the most reckless bravery he rode 
here and there, encouraging and commanding. 
Five horses were killed under him. Finally a 
bullet pierced both lungs and he was carried to the 
rear. Four days later he died. In the middle of 
the road his grave was made, and over it wagons 
were driven back and forth to hide every trace, lest 
the Indians might dig up and mutilate his body. 

Braddock was proud. Behind him w^as the fame 
and prestige of the British army, won on many a 
bloody field. He was self satisfied. What did 
these humble colonists know of the great game of 
war, and what had royal troops to fear from a few 
Frenchmen, or least of all, from a handful of half 
naked savages? Freely he had expressed himself 
to Benjamin Franklin, the philosopher and states- 
man. "After taking Fort Duquesne," he had said, 
" I am to proceed to Fort Niagara ; and having 
taken that, to Fort Frontenac, if the season will 
allow time, and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can 
hardly detain me three or four days." 



228 EARLY AMERICAN TIISTORY 

" The only danger I apprehend of obstruction 
to your march," had answered Franklin, " is from 
ambuscades of the Indians. The slender line, 
nearly four miles long-, which your army must 
make, may expose it to be attacked in its flanks, 
and to be cut like a thread into several pieces." 

With a smile Braddock had replied : " These 
savages may indeed be formidable to your raw 
militia, but upon the king's regular and disciplined 
troops, sir, it is impossible that they should make 
any impression." How^ soon and how terribly he 
was undeceived ! For once the philosopher knew 
more of war than the general. 

But Braddock was brave. Of that there is no 
question. He also was generous. In his last 
moments he begged Washington's pardon for the 
awful mistake. His dying words, " Who \vould 
have thought it?" are pitiful. 

With the defeat of Braddock's army, gloom 
settled over the colonies. If the British regulars 
could be of no assistance, how were they themselves 
successfully to resist French aggression and Indian 
uprisings? The depression however was but tem- 
porary. We shall see a little later, that with fresh 
energy militia and royal troops renewed the war, 
meeting further reverses, it is true, but finally 
winning the victory. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 229 

One lesson the colonists had learned for all time 
to come. A brilliant uniform does not make an 
effective soldier, and a few men who protect their 
own bodies while each picks out one particular 
enemy, and shoots to kill, often defeat an army 
wlio simply fire volleys in the general direction of 
the foe. The English soldiers were not invincible. 
If the French and Indians could make them run, 
so if necessary could the militia. This conviction 
sank deep into the hearts of the colonists and 
doubtless nerved them in the days of Lexington, 
Concord, and Bunker Hill. 



XVIII. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR — 
VICTORY. 

While, as narrated in the preceding chapter, 
Braddock's expedition against Fort Duquesne had 
been meeting with disaster, a British fleet and 
army had been attacking the French in the country 
around the Bay of Fundy. Here success was with 
the English, but the story is one of cruelty and 
heartlessness towards a peaceful and unsuspecting 
people — a story unequalled in tlie history of the 
civilized world. 

The French province of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, 
had been ceded to Enaland in 1713. At the time 
of the French and Indian War the population 
amounted to about seventeen thousand people. 
The inhabitants almost without exception were 
French in language, customs, and feelings. The 
English kept small garrisons here and there, but 
aside from this, everything went along very much 
the same as before the change in ownership. At the 
outbreak of the war, the sympathy of these people, 
and particularly of the priests, doubtless was with 

230 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 231 

the French, and some of the young men must have 
joined the French army. The governor of the pro- 
vince claimed to have great fear of a general re- 
volt. 

In May, 1755, the English squadron, with three 
thousand troops, sailed from Boston. The first ob- 
ject was Fort Beau-Sejour which the French had 
built on the south side of the isthmus that connects 
Nova Scotia with New Brunswick. This was taken 
without any difficulty and another small fort called 
Gaspereau, on the north side of the isthmus, made 
no resistance. A fort at the mouth of the St. 
John river was burned by its inmates, who fled be- 
fore the English arrived. 

Having thus come into possession of the country, 
the question arose regarding what should be done 
with the inhabitants, both in the conquered territory 
and in Nova Scotia. In Fort Beau-Sejour three 
hundred young French men had been found under 
arms. To turn them loose to swell the ranks of the 
enemy seemed bad policy. The entire population 
were deemed traitors to the En<>lish cause. While 
this is true, in that their sympathies were with the 
French, allowance should have been made for the 
fact that they were French by birth and had settled 
there as a French colony. That was not considered, 
however, and finally the jilan was adopted to carry 



232 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

away all the people and distribute them among the 
Enolish colonies to the south. 

These were simple, harmless peasants, with pro- 
ductive farms and happy homes. They desired the 
joys of peace and not the cares of war. They had 
not committed one single act of hostility. They 
even were willino- to take the oath of alleofiance to 
England. In the surrender of Beau-Sejour it had 
been stipulated that the inhabitants should not be 
disturbed. When these facts are remembered, the 
atrocity of laying waste the farms and homes, and 
scattering the occupants among strangers, will be 
appreciated. 

The designs of the British were performed with 
no delay. From the interior the colonists were 
driven to the shore where the ships were anchored. 
Men, women, and children ; the old, the feeble, and 
the sick — all were huddled together along the beach, 
with no coverino- but the skv, and at nioht no 
light but the fires of drift-wood or the glare from 
the burnino' dwellino-s, there to wait till they could 
be hurried on board. Resistance w^as impossible, 
for the few arms they possessed had been taken 
away from them. Escape there was none, for on 
the one side was the ocean and on the other armed 
soldiers paced up and down. 

In the confusion of embarking, many families 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



2S?, 



were separated, never to be united again. As the 
first ships sailed. away, more than one mother leaned 
far over the railing- and with tear dimmed eyes 
gazed for the last time on a little form crying dis- 
consolately on the desolate beach ; many a husband 
called a last farewell across the water, and the dis- 



^ 'f.b^.^^^^^'^^l^ 




The fVowiKiy^/^ i' "^ 







JIAP OF ACADlE (From an oia print). 



tance mercifully mellowed his wife's long wail of 
agony as the ship rapidly bore her from those she 
loved. Poor, despised, broken-hearted, these per- 
secuted people wasted away in foreign lands. The 
province of Acadia was blotted out of existence. 

Longfellow, in his sad but beautiful poem, 
" Evangeline," has described the removal of the 



234 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

dwellers in Grand Pre. Read it if you would know 
more of this sorrow and suffering. He tells how 
first the men of the village were summoned to the 
church to hear a message from the kino-. When 
all were assembled, the door was barred, guards 
were stationed over them, and the purpose of the 
English was made known. Great was the hearers' 
amazement, intense their anger, but nothing could 
be done. Then the women were ordered to take 
their household effects and gather on the shore. 
The poem continues: — 

"Soon o'er the yellow fields, in siU-iit aiKl mournful pro- 
cession. 
Came from the neighborinji' liamlets nnd farms the Acadian 

women. 
Driving in ponderous wains their household goods to the 

seashore. 
Pausing and looking back to g:ize once more on their 

dwellings, 
Ere they were shut from sight l)y the winding road and 

the woodland. 
Close at their sides the children ran. and urged on the 

oxen. 
While in their little hands they clasped some fragments 

of playthings." 



"All day long the wains came laboring down from the A'il- 
lage. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 235 

Late in the aftenuxni, when the suu was near to his 

settinsi'. 
Echoing far o'er the tields came the roll of tlrums from 

the churciiyard. 
Thither tlie women and children thronged. On a sudden 

the church doors 
Opened, and forth came the guard, and marching in 

gloom}' procession. 
Followed the long imprisoned, but patient Acadian 

farmers. 
P^ven as pilgrims, who j(nirney afar from their homes and 

their country, 
Sing as they go, and in singing forget they are wearv 

and wayworn, 
80, with songs on their lips the Acadian peasants 

descended 
Down from the church to the shore, amid their wives and 

their daughters." 

"But on the shores meanwhile the evening tires had been 

kindled. 
Built of the drift-wood thrown on tlie sands from wrecks 

in the tempest. 
Round them shapes of gloom and sorrowful faces were 

gathered. 
Voices of women were heard, and of men, and the crying 

of children." 

When the burinng buildings began to Hght up 
the sky — 

" As in autumn the blood red 
Moon climbs the crystal walls of heaven " . , , 



236 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

"Speechless at first they stood, then cried aloud in their 

anguish, 
'"We shall behold no more our homes iu the village of 
Graud Pre ! '" 

''With the first dawn of day the tide came heaving and 
hurrying landward. 

Thru recDunnenced once more the stir and noise of 
embarking ; 

And with the ebb of that tide, the ships sailed out of the 
harbor, 

Leaving behind them the (.lead on the shore and the vil- 
lage in ruins." 

That such scenes ever occurred, is a lasting dis- 
grace to England ; that nothing of the kind ever 
may happen again is the hope of all who speak 
her lano-uaoe. 

Of the other two expeditions planned by Brad- 
dock at the same time when he determined upon 
his own advance against Fort Duquesne, the one 
under Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, against 
Niagara, accomplished nothing aside from the 
erection of two strono- f(n"ts at Osweoo. The cam- 
paign against the forts at Crown Point on Lake 
Champlain was more successful. The French, com- 
manded by Dieskau, advanced to meet the English, 
and after a hard battle were defeated, Dieskau being- 
killed. 

The English, however, did not follow up this 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 237 

advantage and contented themselves with building 
a fort, called William Henry, near the scene of the 
battle. The year 1755 closed with little to en- 
courage the British. Forts Duquesne, Niagara, and 
Crown Point still were in possession of the French. 

In May, 1756, war was formally declared between 
England and France. General Abercrombie was 
despatched from England with additional forces, 
and the Earl of Loudon was made commander- 
in-chief. The first step taken was towards 
reinforcing Fort Oswego, and a small detachment 
of troops succeeded in reaching it in safety. The 
departure of the main body was delayed, however, 
and Oswego, with one thousand men and a vast 
amount of ammunition and provisions, fell into the 
hands of the French under Montcalm, a general of 
whom more will be told later. 

In July, Lord Loudon arrived and assumed com- 
mand. Like Braddock, he was entirely unfitted for 
a campaign in a new country. Although he had a 
force sufficient, if handled with energy, to seize 
every French fort, he wasted the time in drills and 
parades, and in constructing fortifications where 
they were little needed. June, 1757, found him 
fortifying Long Island against a possible French 
attack, while the outlying garrisons and settlements 
were left to take care of themselves as far as he was 



238 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

concerned. The French general, Montcalm, was not 
slow to take advantage of this delay and laid siege 
to Fort William Henry, occupied bv two thousand 
English troops under the brave Colonel Monroe. 

The fort offered a most stul)born and heroic 
resistance. General Webb, with a strong force, 
was at Fort Edward, but fourteen miles away. 
Messengers were sent to him, and relief was expected 
hourly. It did not seem possible that he would see 
a brother officer in distress without makinof even an 
attempt to assist him. Still, day after day, the 
bombardment continued, the lines of the besiegers 
were drawn closer and closer, and there was no sign 
of succor. Finally, to the shame of the English 
army, a message came from Webb, not promising 
aid, but actually advising surrender ! 

What could Monroe do? His ammunition and 
provisions were nearly exhausted, his troops were 
worn out with constant fighting, and the walls of 
the fort were being battered continually by the balls 
from the French cannon. He himself preferred to 
die rather than yield, but he had no right to sac- 
rifice farther the lives of his gallant soldiers ; besides, 
with him were helpless women and children. So 
the English flag was hauled down and the fort was 
surrendered. 

The garrison was promised all the honors of war. 



EARLY AMEKTOAN HISTORY 209 

It and its baggage uere to be protected as far as 
Fort Edward. Doubtless Montcalm intended to 
keep bis word. Tbe scenes wbicb followed are too 
awful to cbarge tbem to any man witbout tbe 
strongest proof. He was, bowever, guilty of crim- 
inal negligence in not taking proper steps to restrain 
tbe passions of bis Indian allies, angered because 
tbej bad not been allowed to plunder and kill. 

Slowdy tbe battle-worn soldiers filed from tbe fort 
between lines of Frencli troops, drawn up to receive 
tbem, and began tbe marcb to Fort Edward. Witb 
tbem came women witb babes in tbeir arms, and 
frigbtened cbildren trudging beside tbem, clinging 
close to tbeir dresses. Tbere were men, unarmed, 
witb a few bousebold goods in packs on tbeir 
sboulders. Around all, tbe Indians darkly gatb- 
ered, inflamed at seeing so mucb booty escape tbem. 

Just bow tbe trouble commenced is not known. 
Witbout warning, tbe sbrill war wboop rent tbe air 
and witb knife and tomabawk tbe savages sprang to 
tbe slaugbter. In vain did Monroe, barebeaded, 
and witb naked bands tbrusting aside tbe opposing 
Indians, rusb frantically to Montcalm and demand 
tbe promised protection. It was too late, or perbaps 
Montcalm feared to tliwart bis inbuman friends. 
Tbe bloody work was not bindered. One account 
says tbat tbirty Englishmen were killed outright 



240 EARLY AMERICAN HISTOHV 

and many more were carried away into captivity. 
Another, that the bodies of over one hundred 
women, mangled and mutilated beyond recognition, 
were found scattered along the ground. Words 
and figures fail to describe such an occurrence, 
noticeable even in a war already marked by the am- 
bush of Braddock, and disgraced by the banish- 
ment of the Acadians. 

A thrilling account of the defence and surrender 
of this fort is given by James Fenimore Cooper, in 
his " Last of the Mohicans," a book which every 
boy and girl will enjoy reading. 

So far fortune had been with the French. With 
the besinnino- of the year 1758 the tide turned. 
In England, the famous William Pitt was placed in 
charge of colonial affairs. His appointment in- 
spired confidence on all sides. In July the city of 
Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, with all its stores, 
ammunition, and artillery was captured by the 
British. Wolfe, of whose gallant deeds before 
Quebec we shall soon hear, greatly distinguished 
himself in this campaign. 

About the same time, an attack against Fort 
Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, was re})ulsed by 
the French with oreat slauohter. Later when the 
English advanced for a second attempt the fort was 
abandoned, as were also the French forts at Crown 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



241 



Point. Fort Niagara, too, fell into the hands of 
the conquering English, and Fort Duquesne met a 
similar fate. Where before there had been apathy 
and delay there now were keenness and dispatch. 

It remained for General Wolfe to deliver the final 
crushing blow, by the capture of Quebec. In June, 
1759, with forty-four vessels and eight thousand 
men he arrived at the Isle of Orleans, in the mouth 




of the St. Lawrence river. On the west side of this 
island he made his first camp. Point Levi, on the 
main land to the south, and due east across the 
river from Quebec, speedily was taken. Thence 
the batteries bombarded the citv, reducins" the 
Lower Town to ashes, but without having any effect 
on the fortress or the Upper Town. 



242 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

It seemed that Quebec could be taken, if at all, 
by assault only. Montcalm, the French commander, 
had no reason to fear attack from the east or 
south, where the precipitous river banks afforded 
protection, but had extended his forces and thrown 
up entrenchments to the north as far as the Mont- 
morenci River. On the 31st of July Wolfe 
effected a landing on the east bank of this river, 
where the stream was fordable. For some reason 
the boats bearing part of his troops were delayed. 
Those who first landed impetuously rushed across 
the river to the attack. But the opposing French 
were too strong, and the British were driven back 
with a loss of five hundred. 

Wolfe was so wrought up over the defeat that he 
was stricken with a fever. When he recovered, a 
council was held and he insisted upon a second 
attack in the same locality. However, wiser advice 
prevailed, and it was decided to try and scale the 
cliffs up the river to the north of the city, and thus 
strike the enemy where least expected. 

To distract the attention of the French, active 
demonstrations against their positions near the 
Montmorenci River were continued. Meanwhile, 
on the night of September 12, silently the English 
troops embarked and ascended the St. Lawrence 
until beyond Quebec, to a point now called Wolfe's 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 243 

Cove. At first the banks here seemed so steep that 
even Wolfe despaired of climbing them. Presently 
a company of Highlanders discovered a faint trail, 
up which they laboriously managed to scramble. 
Wolfe and his army followed them. 

The rest is soon told. When the rising sun dis- 
pelled the mists of early morning, the astonished 
Frenchmen descried to the south, on the Heights of 
Abraham overlooking the town, an English army in 
line of battle. In haste the forces of Montcalm 
rushed to the attack. The English, instead of run- 
ning to meet them, stood their ground until the enemy 
were distant but forty yards. Then a terrible volley 
was poured into the French ranks, followed by a 
charge in which bayonets and broadswords were 
used with awful effect. Instantly the French com- 
menced their flight, and the battle was won. 

At the very beginning of the engagement both 
commanders were wounded mortally. Wolfe, 
while being carried to the rear, heard the excited 
soldiers shouting, " They run ! they run ! " " Who 
run?" he faintly asked. "The French," was the 
reply. " Now God be praised, I die happy," he 
murmured, and expired. Montcalm, when told by 
a surgeon that he could survive but a few hours, 
replied, " So much the better. I shall not live to see 
the surrender of Quebec." Thus died two heroes. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 245 

The field where they fell is marked today by a 
single shaft of white marble bearing the simple 
inscriptions, " Wolfe " and " Montcalm." 

Five days after the battle, Quebec surrendered. 
On the sea the war between France and England 
continued for three years. By a treaty of peace, 
signed in Paris in February, 1763, practically all 
of the French possessions east of the Mississippi 
were ceded to the English. No war ever waged 
was more far-reaching in its results. It was a 
struoo'le between the French and Enjilish races for 
supremacy in North America, for all time. That 
here to-day is a mighty republic of English speaking- 
people, is due to the victory so dearly bought by 
the valiant Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham. 

Although defeated, the French were not without 
consolation. Count cle Vergennes, a statesman 
and diplomat, declared it a fatal victory for Eng- 
land. " The colonies will no lonuer need her 
protection," he remarked ; " she will call on them to 
contribute towards supporting the burdens they 
have helped to bring on her, and tlu^y will answer 
by striking for independence." In the light of 
the events which followed and which will be 
described in the remaining chapters of this book, 
these words are prophetic. 




XIX. 



MUTTERINGS OF THE STORM. 

From what already has been said of the colonists, 
it will be realized that they were not to be trifled 
with. Men who with their families will emip'rate 
across the ocean, and in the dead of winter hew for 
themselves homes in the wilderness, will not fear to 
face any foe in defence of right and honor. 

From the first, the settlers were independent. 
What they achieved, was the resnlt of their own 
unaided efforts. With each year came a clearer 
sense of their own power. England was mighty. 
Her armies had been victorious on land. Her fleets 
had swept the seas. But now let her beware. Tn 
America she has to deal with new conditions and a 
new race of men. The colonists will not crinore nor 

o 

246 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 247 

falter. Their reliance is in God and their own 
strong- arms. Short is the step from independence 
to Independence. 

In the very character of the people we find the 
prime cause of the Revolution. Eventually sepa- 
ration from the old country seemed inevitable. 
Circumstances tended to foster the growth of such 
a sentiment. Never could the colonists foro-et the 
persecution of their forefathers. The rulers of 
England not only failed to sympathize with her 
children, but continually treated them in a most 
unjust and arbitrary manner. So it is not sur- 
prising to find that long before there were open 
hostilities, men who thought deeply on these sub- 
jects foretold trouble. 

In 1755, John Adams, a young school teacher 
who afterwards became famous in the service of Jiis 
country, thus wrote in his diary : '- In another 
century, all Europe will not be able to subdue us. 
The only way to keep us from setting up for our- 
selves is to disunite us." 

The close of the French and Indian War found 
a condition of affairs peculiarly adapted to brino- on 
a crisis. No longer was there any cause to fear 
aggression by France. The great victory had ex- 
erted a good effect on the Indians. Now the col- 
onists had time to look to their own internal affairs 



248 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and grievances. France was anxious to see Eng- 
land humiliated by the loss of her American pos- 
sessions and in every way tried to foster and 
encourage a spirit of discontent. Experience had 
shown that the royal troops were not invincible ; 
the new world was conscious of its own strength. 
Furthermore, in 1760, there had ascended the 
English throne a monarch, hot headed, stupid, 
arrogant, heedless of the rights of his fellowmen — 
the infamous George III. The spark was smoul- 
dering, the fuel ready ; only a breath was needed to 
cause a lire which all the fleets and armies of 
England could not cpiench. 

The immediate cause of the outbreak was the 
attempt to enforce a system of taxation which the 
Americans, as colonists, considered a direct violation 
of their rights under the colonial charters ; and, as 
Englishmen, of their rights without reference to any 
charter. In England, the House of Commons, 
composed of representatives of the people, had the 
exclusive privilege to vote taxes for the necessary 
expenses of the kingdom. Though living in Amer- 
ica, the colonists still were Englishmen. As they 
were allowed no representation in the British Par- 
liament, they justly insisted that their Assemblies 
were their Parliament, and that there alone laws 
could be passed for the taxation of their property. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 249 

They (lid not ask as a favor, but they demanded 
as an inborn right that taxes be levied through 
their own personal representatives. Believing- as 
they did, they would have marked themselves as 
cowards and serfs if they had yielded the point or 
permitted it to be evaded. By keeping this in 
mind, we shall understand more readily the bitter 
feeling and intense o])position to any form of taxa- 
tion without representation. 

For some time previous to the French and Indian 
War there had been trouble on this subject of tax- 
ation. In 1733 the Importation Act, laying exces- 
sive duties on all rum, molasses and sugar Ijroupht 
into the colonies, was passed by Parliament. 
From the first the law was evaded, and then was 
entirely disregarded. In 1761 the English ministry 
took strong measures to enforce the Importation 
Act. Officers were instructed to apply to the courts 
for " writs of assistance," which were in the nature 
of search warrants and authorized the person hold- 
ing one to break into and search any store, dwellino- 
or other budding in which he suspected there might 
be concealed goods which had been broudit into 
the country without payment of duty. 

How hateful these writs were to the colonists 
may easily be imagined. The application for the 
first one was resisted in court. This was the 



250 EARLY AMERICAX HISTORY 

occasion for the nieinoiable speech of .lames Otis, 
who resiji'iied an ofhce under the kinu' that he migfht 
be free to plead the cause of hberty. 

The lawyer for the Crown made a learned legal 
aro-ument to show that in Parliament was vested the 
supreme law making- power for all tlie British 
Empire. Thatcher, a lawyer who spoke with Otis 
for the colonists, made a dry argument to the op- 
posite effect. Otis, however, broke away from dusty 
law books and narrow precedents. Though based 
on law, his speech was one of burnnig eloquence, 
and he attacked the Act as unconstitutional and un- 
just. He was the first of many brilliant orators 
boldly to challenge the position of the king-, and to 
base his actions on the broad principles of right 
and equity. 

Of this trial, John Adams, from whom we have 
already quoted, says, " Every man of an immensely 
crowded audience appeared to me to go away, as I 
did, ready to take up arms against ' writs of assist- 
ance.' Then and there the child of Independence 
was born. In fifteen years, that is, in 177(5, he grew 
up to manhood and declared himself free." 

The writs asked for were granted and others, also, 
at later dates, but opposition to them was so bitter 
that they were used in exceptional cases onlv. 
They had not served to enforce the detested law, 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



251 



but simply had angered the people and pnt them on 
theh' ouard. 

In March, 17(35, came the odious Stamp Act. 
Just a year before, at the instance of Grenville, the 
English prime minister, resolutions had been adopted 
in the House of Commons, stating " that Parlia- 





STAMl'S THAT WERE USED. 



ment had a right to tax the colonies " and })roviding 
for the imposition of certain "stamp duties." 
More formal action was to be delayed for a year, 
because it was seen that preparation must be made 
to enforce such hateful measures. 

The occasion for taking this step on the part of 
England was the enormous debt incurred in the 
recent war with France. It was argued that the 
war was in defence of the colonies, and that they 
should help bear the burden. The answer was that 
the colonies themselves had contracted a heavy debt 
in t^ie same action, that the war was as much for 
the benefit of England as America, and finally, that 
in any event, Parliament had no right to impose any 



25-2 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

tax without the consent of the colonists, Here the 
issue was drawn clearly. If neither side would 
yield, a conflict must result. 

When news of the passage of these resolutions 
reached America, there was great excitement. In 
Massachusetts, the House of Representatives re- 
solved " That the imposition of taxes upon a people 
unrepresented, is absolutely irreconcilable with their 
ris^fhts." A letter was sent to the aofent of the col- 
ony in England, saying, ''If we are not represented, 
we are slaves." James Otis published a pamj^hlet 
setting forth in no uncertain terms the position of 
the colonists. Others were printed in Virginia, 
Rhode Island and Maryland. Petitions to Parlia- 
ment or the king, moderately worded but protesting 
against any measure in the nature of the Stamp 
Act, were forwarded from Massachusetts, New 
York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. 

In spite of all remonstrance, the obnoxious bill 
was passed in March, 1765, to take effect on the 
first of the following November. It provided that 
every note, deed, or other legal document should be 
executed on stamped paper furnished by the British 
government, and every newspaper, book, and pam- 
phlet sltould be printed on such paper. The price 
of the stamp varied from three pence to six pounds. 
In another act it was provided that the ministers 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 253 

might send to America as many soldiers as they 
deemed advisable, and that the colonies in which 
they were stationed should find quarters for them. 

Then indeed were tumultuous times in America. 
Throughout the different colonies, muffled bells 
were tolled as though for the funeral of liberty. 
Stamp collectors were hanged or burned in effigy. 
In New Hampshire, a coffin marked " Liberty " was 
buried with impressive ceremonies. Then, exhumed, 
and bearing the inscription "Liberty Revived," 
amid shouts of rejoicing and the pealing of bells it 
was borne triumphantly through the streets. 

Nor were orators lacking, boldly to champion the 
cause and encourage the timid. Notable among them 
was Patrick Henry, who before the Virginia Assembly 
delivered his famous speech ending with the declara- 
tion, " If this be treason, make the most of it." 

Meanwhile it had been seen that concerted action 
on the part of the colonies would be necessary. 
The calling of a general council had been agitated. 
One of the leaders in this movement was the ever- 
active James Otis. On the 7th of October, 1765, 
the first Colonial Cong^ress assembled in New York. 
There were twenty-eight delegates from nine col- 
onies. A Declaration of Rights was adopted, 
claiming all the privileges of Englishmen and pro- 
testing against being taxed without consent. 




I'ATRICK HENRY DELIVERING HIS CELEBRATED SPEECH, 176S. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 255 

Memorials, pleading the cause of the colonies, were 
addressed to each house of Parliament, and a 
petition pledging- loyalty, but praying for more just 
treatment was sent to the king. In this manly 
way the first steps were taken. 

Regardless of petition and memorial, the Stamp 
Act took effect on November 1. A position as 
stamp distributor, however, was not a desirable one. 
In Connecticut, the people threatened to hang the 
stamp officer. In New York, the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, whose sympathies were with England, tried 
to keep the stamps safely. On the night of No- 
vember 1, the infuriated people broke into his 
stable and taking his coach, dragged it to the pub- 
lic common. There a gallows was erected from 
which was suspended a figure of the official bearing 
in one hand a stamped document and in the other a 
picture of the devil. Later the effigy was cut down, 
placed in the coach, and hauled to a green under 
the very guns of the fort, where coach and all were 
consumed in a big bonfire, around which thousands 
of people sang and shouted. Ten boxes of stamps, 
which arrived a few days later, were burned. 

Throuo'hout the other colonies occurred similar 
demonstrations. In Boston, a paper was circulated 
bearing a device representing a serpent cut into nine 
pieces, one, the head, bearing " N. E." for New 



25r) EARLY AMRRIOAN HISTORY 

Enofland, tlie other eigflit s and no- for the colonies 
as far south as the Carolinas the wh le surmounted 
l)y the pointed inscrijition, " Unite or Die. ' 

In addition to this, business was conducted, as be- 
fore, without tlie use of stamps. The hiw was 
violated openly, without the slightest attempt at 
concealment. The people seemed to glory in dis- 
obeying such a regulation. 

Perhaps the boldest and most effective stroke 
was a resolution to buy no more ooods from Eno- 
land until the law was repealed. British merchants 
had been enjoying an immense trade with America. 
Now it was cut off suddenly. The importers of 
Boston, New York, and other cities declared they 
would purchase nothing from England. The col- 
onists dealt with each other, and what could not 
thus be obtained they went without. The women 
were as patriotic as the men. All were enlisted and 
English merchants were touched where some people 
are most sensitive — in their pocket-books. So from 
Great Britain, as well as from America, went up a 
cry for the repeal of the Stamp Act. 

In March, 1766, after a prolonged debate in the 
House of Commons, in which the cause of the colo- 
nists was championed most ably by William Pitt, 
the Stamp Act was repealed. The service of Pitt 
scarcely can be overestimated. In one of his stir- 



.EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



257 




BENJ. FRANKLIN. 



ring" speeches he frankly admitted 
his pleasure in the resistance offered 
by America. Benjamin Franklin, 
too, had been summoned to Eng- 
land to give testimony as to the 
feelings of the colonists. Here he 
displayed the tact and ability which 
characterized him later in life when 
sent on a still more important mis- 
sion. 

riie repeal, however, was based not on right, but 
on policy. It was declared expressly that " Parlia- 
ment had, and of right ought to have, power to 
bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." So the 
Americans, who hud contended for principle, had 
won but an empty victory. 

Joy in America over the annulling of this hated 
measure was short lived. King George III. had 
no intention of yielding permanently. Passion in 
America had been aroused to such a pitch that a 
cautious king, or sensible advisers, would have seen 
the folly of giving cause for further agitation. 
From north to south, from the ocean to the moun- 
tains, in every city and hamlet, orators with burn- 
ing eloquence addressed the colonists, urging watch- 
fulness instead of confidence, for England by no 
means had yielded. 



258 



EAKLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



True enough. Blindly disregarding' this condition 
of affairs, an act was passed in June, 1767, imposing 
a duty on all glass, paper, and tea brought into the 
colonies, and suspending the New York Assembly 
until it should furnish supplies for the royal troops. 




OLD STATK HOl'SE, BOSTON. 



Now the fury of the colonists knew no bounds. 
Again they decided to buy no goods in England. 
In Boston, custom officers seized a sloop, '' Liberty," 

The enrao-ed inhabitants 



charoed with smuooHno; 



T:AKLY AMERICAN HISTORV 259 

destroyed their houses and forced them to run for 
their Hves. To quell the disorder, a regiment of 
troops was ordered from Halifax. So intense was 
the feeling, that they were landed under the pro- 
tection of the war ships in the harbor, and with 
loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, were marched 
up the city streets. The governor refused to assign 
quarters for the soldiers and they were stationed in 
the state house. 

In other colonies, including Virginia and North 
Carolina, there were similar occurrences. 

Then came bloodshed. On March 5, 1770, in 
Boston, a mob of exasperated colonists surrounded 
a detail of soldiers, tauntiup- them and darino- 
them to fire. The answer was a volley, and three 
citizens fell dead upon the ground. Here, oppo- 
site the State House, flowed the first blood of the 
Revolution. 

Affairs went from bad to worse. The duty was 
removed from all articles except tea, in the idea that 
the people would consider the remaining tax a trifle 
not worth contention. As this brouoht no o-ood 
results, the price of the tea itself was lowered so 
that even with the duty it was cheaper than before. 
This action, too, failed in its purpose. The blind- 
ness of the British ministry is inconceivable. To 
the colonists, acting from principle, a tax of one 



•_>r.O EAKLY AMERICAN TIISTOKY 

dollar was as bad as one of ten thousand, and a 
duty on a sing-le article as repellent as one on a 
million. 

Ships loaded with tea were excluded from the 
ports of New York ; the stuff was landed in Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, but could not be sold ; and in 
Boston a party of men disguised as Indians, boarded 
the vessels and threw the tea into the ocean — the 
celebrated " Boston Tea Party." 

Now comes the climax. In March, 1774, Parlia- 
ment passed the Boston Port Bill, closing the pott 
of Boston and forbiddinaf the brinoino" in or carry- 
ing out of any goods. In May of the same year, 
the charter was declared void and the inhabitants 
rebels. General Gage, governor of Massachusetts, 
was ordered to use force in subduing these rebels, 
and ten thousand men were sent to assist him. Bos- 
ton Neck was fortified by the British and a quantity 
of ammunition in Charlestown was seized. 

The patriots were on their guard, and once, when 
there was a rumor that Boston was being shelled, 
thirtv thousand men immediately gathered in the 
surrounding country. Though they quickly dis- 
persed, it indicated the strength of public sentiment. 
The Massachusetts Assembly convened, in defiance 
of the king, and on September 5, Congress met in 
Philadelphia, twelve colonies, or all but Georgia, 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 261 

being represented. War was at hand, and the col- 
pnists prepared to accept the issue. 

We have given somewhat in detail the history of 
the few years preceding the Revohition, for no 
period deserves more careful study. Every Amer- 
ican boy and girl glories in the Declaration of 
Independence, celebrates the Fourth of July, and 
exults over the defeat of England. There is more 
reason for pride, however, when we know, not only 
that we won but that we were right, and why we 
were rioht. 

A calm and careful review of all the facts shows 
that the colonists simply insisted on their privileges 
as Englishmen, and on the rights guaranteed them 
by England ; that they refused to compromise or 
permit any evasion, because their contention was 
based on principle ; that first, by memorials and 
petitions, respectfully and with sincere professions 
of loyalty they presented their claims to king and 
Parliament; and that, as a last resort only, was 
force met by force. They must yield as cravens or 
fight as patriots. War waged recklessly is wicked ; 
under such circumstances, it is holy. 




THK MINUTE MAN. 



XX. 

THE STORM BREAKS. 

With the begin 11 i 11 g- of 1775, although there was 
activity and excitement in all the colonies, the 
center of interest was Massachusetts, where General 
Gage, with the British regulars, held possession 
of Boston. On February 1, the Massachusetts 

262 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 263 

Assembly convened at Cambridge and adjourned to 
Concord. The people were urged not to delay in 
preparing for the struggle, but such an appeal 
scarcely was necessary. 

Everywhere the militia were being drilled, and 
armed as effectively and quickly as possible. Men 
who could not join immediately, cleaned their guns, 
filled their powder horns and bullet pouches, kept 
them constantly within reach, and promised always 
to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. These 
were the famous " minute men." Plans were made 
for the purchasing of powder, artillery, provi- 
sions, and other resources of war, and storinof them 
secretly in convenient places. 

These actions on the part of the colonists were 
regarded by the English officers and soldiers with 
unconcealed contempt. It did not seem possible 
that these awkward, poorly armed militia and 
scattered colonists would dare actually to fire on 
the king's well disciplined and finely equipped 
troops; or if they rashly did so, it was not im- 
agined that they could offer any serious resistance. 
When General Gage, under orders to suppress 
disloyalty by force of arms, began to plan excur- 
sions to seize the munitions and stores of the 
rebels as they were accumulated at different points, 
he probably did not dream that his forces would 



264 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



be driven back to Boston, thankful to escape with 
their lives. 

Both sides were alert and watchful. In April, 
General Gao^e discovered that the Americans had 




MKUVir.LK, MAS 



concealed a quantity of powder and ball and other 
military stores in Concord, about sixteen miles from 
Boston. Covertly he made preparations to capture 
and destroy them. For this purpose, at midnight 
of the 18th, eight hundred picked troops, under 



EARLY AMKIMCAN HISTORY 



26i 



Lieutenant- colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, left 
Boston. They were carried in boats across the 
Charles River, and in the silence and darkness of the 
night rapidly pushed forward towards Concord. 




OLD NOK'lH CHURCH, BOSTON. 



These movements had not escaped the attention 
of the citizens of Boston. The troops had not em- 
barked before bells, wildly ringing, spread the news. 
Siirnals were flashed across the river, from the Old 
North Church, and soon, peal on peal, the steeples 
of Charlestown aroused the sleeping people. Mes- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 267 

sengers, quickly mounting, galloped along the coun- 
try roads, shouting the call to arms, for the British 
were on the move. To Lexington and Concord 
word was carried by Paul Revere, whose wild ride 
the poet Longfellow so vividly has described : 

'• A hurry of hoofs in a vilhige street, 
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet ; 
That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light, 
The fate of a nation was riding that night ; 
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, 
Kindled the lanil into flame with its heat." 

So Paul Revere hurried through the streets of 
Lexington, barely pausing to shout the news, and 
then rushed onward to Concord. As the noise of 
the hoof-beats died away in the distance, lights ap- 
peared in the windows of the houses, and streamed 
through open doors as men, half clad and grasping 
muskets or fowling-pieces, quickly made their way 
to the Common. From the surrounding country 
also, by roads and winding paths, came the farmers, 
aroused by the same messenger and eager to do their 
share. 

By two o'clock one hundred and thirty had col- 
lected under arms, and were awaiting the approach 
of the enemy. After a while, as there were no 



268 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

signs of the English, they dispersed, to assemble 
again if a sional should be given. 

The British troops, marching along the road to- 
wards Lexington, did not fad U) notice that the 
country was being alarmed. ^lajor Pitcairn, with 
a detachment o£ light infantrVf was sent on alu-ad 
of the main column. At live in the morning, he 
came in sia'ht of Lexinoton. Here, on the village 
common, had reassembled seventy men under the 
command of Captain Parker. Thev were so few m 
number that thev did not expect to offer any re- 
sistance. Angered by the sight of them, Pitcairn 
rode forward and loudly called, '' Disperse, ye vil- 
lains ! Throw down your arms, and disperse." As 
the order was not obeyed instantly, he waved his 
sword, discharged his pistol, and gave the command 
to fire. A volley followed, sixteen patriots fell 
dead or wounded, and the rest retired, firing as 
they went. 

In a short time the main body of the British 
troops arrived, and all proceeded to Concord. A 
few Americans drawn up near a bridge which must 
be passed to enter the town, at once retreated before 
them. In the village some flour barrels and can- 
non w^ere destroyed, and five hundred balls were 
thrown into the river. This was all that the expe- 
dition accomplished. Meanwhile the Americans 



EARLY AMEIUCWN HISTORY 26t» 

had been reinforced and had advanced upon the 
hridgc. The British fired ; a volley answered, and 
a sharp skirmish took place in which a few were 
killed on either side. 

Having destroyed all the stores they could Hnd, 
the regulars beaan the march back to Boston. At 
Lexington they were joined by nine hundred fresh 
troops with artillery, sent out by General Gage, 
who early became disquieted at the extent of the 
uprising. Well he might be. News of the fight 
at Lexington had spread with marvellous rapidity. 
Alone, in small groups, and by companies, armed 
and eager to avenge the death of their fellow-pat- 
riots, men from the whole surrounding country 
gathered along the route to Boston. Seldom have 
reinforcements been more welcome than were those 
who joined the Britisli troops at Lexington. 

The march of the British back to Boston was one 
continual fight. By means (jf their cannon, they 
could keep the colonial forces scattered and at a 
distance. But they could not protL^-t themselves 
from the constant and galling fire poured on them 
by the marksmen, fighting shigly or in little bands 
from behind rocks, trees, or whatever might afford 
concealment and shelter. There was no one in 
command, no concerted action. From point to 
point the Americans ran, firing as best they could, 



EARLY AMERICAN TlfSTOHY 271 

and when one dropped back exhausted, others were 
on hand to take his place. 

Thus harassed, worn out and exhausted, carrying- 
with them their wounded and tlieir dead, these 
proud troops of King- George w-ere driven to the 
very limits of Boston, and were saved from capture 
or death by only ihe quickness of their march. 
Almost had Braddock's disaster been repeated. 

Amidst such stirring scenes Congress, on the 10th 
of May, assembled at Philadelphia. Still hoping that 
a bloody struggle might be avoided, addresses to the 
king and the people of Great Britain and Canada 
were prepared, in which the rights of the colonies 
were boldly set forth, and loyalty to the mother 
country was promised if these were granted. 
Then the deleoates turned their attention to the 
pressing duties of the hour. Measures were adopted 
for the enlistment of troops, the purchase of arms 
and ammunition, and the erection of fortifications. 
To meet the necessary expenses, the issue of notes 
to the amount of three million dollars was author- 
ized and the good faith of all the colonies was 
pledged for their payment. 

The selection of a commander-in-chief was a deli- 
cate subject. Jealousy among the different colo- 
nies and among the several men who seemed fitted 
for such an honor, was feared. Finally the unan- 



272 KAK'LY AMKHK'AN TTISToHY 

imous choice fell upon George Washington. His 
past record seemed to show that he possessed the 
personal as well as the nulitary (lualitications for 
such a position, and the history of the next few 
years wdl prove the wisdom of the selection. 

Washington, after modestly expressing doubt as 
to his ability, accepted, but he refused to consider 
any salary, saying he would keep an account of his 
expenses and be satisfied if Congress would refund 
them. Thus at the outset he gave evidence of the 
pure patriotism by which he ever was insj)ired. 

On June 20 Washinoton received his commission. 
In the meantime, the opposing forces in and around 
Boston had not been idle. General Gage had 
received reinforcements under Generals Clinton, 
Burgoyne, and Howe. The officer last named, as 
his ship entered the harbor, exclaimed, "^ What ! 
ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king's 
troops shut up ! Well, let us go in and we '11 soon 
find elbow room." Find it he did, and as promptly 
as he expected ; but it was by again sailing out to 
sea, and not by victoriously marching inland ! 

Bv the middle of June the colonial troops had 
increased in number to about sixteen thousand. 
On the night oF June 16, one thousand men, 
under Colonel Prescott, were despatched to fortify 
Banker Hill, commanding the peninsula of Charles- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 273 

town. By mistake they went even farther, to 
Bleed's Hill, overlookini>- and commandino- Boston. 
Here they pioceeded to work vigorously, throwing 
up breastworks and intrenchnients. 

S(j close were they to the British ships in the har- 
bor that through the still air of night they clearly 
heard the sentries call, "All 's well " ; yet so silently 
they toiled that till the sun rose out of the sea their 
presence was not suspected. 

The astonished British could scarcely believe their 
eyes. Had the audacious rebels actually taken a 
position on Breed's Hill, within range of the artil- 
lery ? The batteries w^ere ordered to drop a shell 
or two among them, and send them scampering 
back to safety. As a few shots seemed to do no 
o'ood, a furious cannonade was commenced and 
continued. Yet the militia, undismayed, pushed 
their work, and by noon the breastworks had in- 
creased in extent. 

Soon cannon would be mounted ; and the Brit- 
ish general began to think of shells dropping among 
the housetops of Boston, and whizzing uncomfort- 
ably close to his own precious ears. It seemed too 
bad to go to so much trouble, but the royal troops 
must have "elbow room.' So three thousand 
picked men were detailed to Avalk up the hill and 
teach tliese farmers a lesson. 



274 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



In the middle of the afternoon the British soldiers 
were formed at the bottom of the hill. Behind the 
breastworks at the top were but one thousand raw 




BOSTON AND BMVIRONS— 1776. 



militia, poorly drilled, scantily equipped, hungry, 
thirsty, and worn out by twelve hours' hard labor 
with pick and shovel. What could they expect to 



ftARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



t>rr. 



do against a charge by the flower of the EngHsh 
army ? For victory perhaps they dared not hope, 
but at least they could die in defense of liberty. 



a - J#i. :, 


m 


L 


. "i^ii^i; ■■■. 


m 


.,JBt>. 





nUXKER mi.L MONUMENT. 



There was no fear, no trembling, no running 
away. Steadily, in long line, the muskets were 
pointed over the embankment. Steadily, in brilliant 
array, with swinging step and keeping time to 
strains of martial music, wJl' ^^^® ^^i^^ marched the 



27r) EAULY AMKKICAN HISTORY 

red-clad regulars. The fire from sbi})S and batteries 
increased ; nearer and nearer came the British and 
still not a sound from behind the breastworks. The 
silence was oppressive. 

At length, when the royal forces are scarce 
thirty paces distant, from one flank of the hill to 
the other, bursts a sheet of Hame. A single volley 
has been fired, but each shot has been aimed low 
and true. Anxiously the defenders peer into the 
smoke which at first conceals all from view. Has 
the charge been stopped or will the regulars pres- 
entlv be suroino- over the breastworks, before there 
is time aoain to load and fire ? 

Slowly the smoke waves back and forth in the 
gentle summer breeze ; slowly it rises, as though it 
fain would hide that blood drenched hillside from 
the ofaze of men. Now a few forms can l)e dis- 
cerned, dimly, indistinctly. The body of a boy is 
visible, outstretched on the sod, his face upturned 
to the sunlight. Never more will he see his home 
in far off Enoland. Near him a bearded man raises 
himself to his knees, vainly strives to stand, and 
falls with a "roan, while a stream from his breast 
dyes his jacket a still deeper crimson. Now the 
entire view is open, and terrible is the scene dis- 
closed. The slaughter has been terrific. The 
green sward is covered with the dead and the dying. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



277 



while down the hill in wild confusion madly run 
the survivors, looking for some place of shelter Irom 
that deadly fire. Their officers cannot stop nor 
stay them. 

For some time the British officers ride to and fro 
among their men. They upbraid, they command, 




PLAN Ol I HE BATTLE OK BUNKEK HILL 



they threaten. At length, reluctantly, again the 
soldiers advance to the attack, again a withering 
volley meets them, and again they turn and flee, 
some of them as far as the boats in the river. 

Then General Clinton himself hurries over from 
Boston to give advice and aid. By General Gage's 



278 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

orders Charlestown is set on fire. Cannon have 
been broiioht to bear so that they rake the breast- 
works from both ends. Once more the British 
advance. The position of the defenders is desper- 
ate. Their ammunition ahnost is exhausted and 
they themselves are worn and weary. As nothing- 
can be done, after one scattering fire the order is 
iiiven to retreat. 

But what a retreat ! Men such as these do not 
run. Fio'htino- with clubbed muskets, with sticks, 
stones, and even with their bare fists, against bullet 
and bayonet, stubbornly contesting every inch they 
retire in oood order and reintrench themselves on 
Prospect Hill, but a mile away. The British do 
not pursue. They have " elbow room " enough for 
the present. 

Thus the war has opened in Massachusetts, with 
three victories for England. At Lexington, seventy 
men have been dispersed by ten times their number. 
At Concord, a few supplies have been destroyed, 
thouoh the seventeen hundred men who united to 
perform the glorious feat were driven under fire 
back to the very walls of Boston. Now, with the 
enemy reintrenched a mile away, the British occupy 
Breed's Hill, with a loss of over one thousand, or half 
the men actually engaged in the battle. A few more 
such British victories is all the Americans can ask. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 279 

It was not in Massachusetts alone that the patriots 
had proven themselves firm and daring. The 
" Green Mountain Boys ' o£ Vermont, under Ethan 
Allen, also had struck a blow for liberty. On the 
shore of Lake Champlain lay Fort Ticonderoga, 
occupied by a British garrison who never thought 
of an attack being made upon them. During the 
night of May 9, Allen and his troops reached the 
shore opposite the fort. Owing to scarcity of boats, 
by daylight only eighty-three men had crossed the 
lake. With Allen at their head, they made a rush 
throuo'h the entrance. 

While his men made prisoners of the English 
soldiers, who were rudely awakened by three hearty 
American cheers, Allen hastily sought the room 
occupied by the commander. Captain Delaplace, 
and pounded on the door with the hilt of his sword. 
The bewildered captain thrust out his head to ask 
what Avas the matter. It is said that at the same 
time his blushing wife peeped over his shoulder. 
Before them stood Ethan Allen, fiercely brandishing 
his sword and shouting to them to surrender " In 
the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
Congress." It was too late for resistance. Ticon- 
deroga surrendered aiul speedily Crown Point did 
the same. The control of Lake Champlain, with 
two hundred pieces of artillery and a large amount 




ETHAN ALI.EN AT TirONDEROGA. 



EAPvLY AMEIUCAN HISTOUY 



2S1 



of the powder so greatly needed, thus came to the 
Americans. 

In the capture of Ticonderoga, serving as a 
private because tlie Vermont men would follow no 
one but Ethan Allen, was a man named Benedict 
Arnold, now known to history as Arnold the Traitor. 
Let us read of his good deeds, while we can. The 
Americans hoped to have the aid of the Canadians 
in this struggle, and to help bring this about plans 
were made for the capture of the cities and forts 
along the St. Lawrence. Li the fall of 1775, with 
one thousand men, Arnold set out for Quebec. 
After a march of indescribable suffering from cold 
and hunger, the little army reached the Plains of 
Abraham, where Wolfe had won his famous victory. 
The English forces refused 
to come out and fight, and as 
Arnold had not men enough 
to carry the fort by assault, 
he withdrew to await rein- 
forcements. 

These arrived early in 
December, under Colonel 
Richard Montgomery, whd 
assumed command. On his 
way he had captured several 
posts, including Montreal. k.cuard moxtgomkky. 




2S2 EARLY AMElUr.AN HISTORY 

The last day of December an assault was ordered. 
This was attempted in two divisions. The one, 
under Montgomery, attacked from the north by 
way of the St. Lawrence and. the Lower Town. 
A blindino- snovv stoim was ra<>ino', ice and snow 
were under foot, and the air was bitter cold. 
As the troops advanced, a battery poured a storm 
of shot and shell into their ranks, and Montg-omery, 
bravely leading the charge, fell dead. His men, 
disheartened, retreated to Wolfe's Cove. 

Li the meantime, the other division, under 
Arnold, not knowing what had happened, from the 
direction of the St. Charles River fought its way 
into the Lower Town. Early in the engagement 
Arnold was badly wounded, and after a most gallant 
fight aoainst overwhelmino- odds, his men retreated. 
Li a few days, smallpox broke out. Gradually the 
Americans were compelled to evacuate Canada, and 
give up the posts Montgomery had taken. 

This closed the operations for 1775. The Amer- 
icans had reason to feel encouraged. They had 
shown their ability not only to stand their ground 
but to beat off the British regulars, and confidence 
is half the battle. Still, there was sorrow in many 
a home over the loss of a hero, to fame unknown. 
There was grief throughout the colonies over the 
death of many a leader. Montgomery, brave and 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 283 

noble, gave up his life at Quebec. Warren, equally 
brave and well-beloved, fell at Bunker Hill. The 
sacred dead, named and unnamed, ever will be 
honored. 

"■ H()W sleep the brave, who sink to rest 
By all their countrv's wishes blest I 
AVheii Spriiijj;, with dewy tiiigers euld, 
Returns to deck tiieir hallowed mold, 
She there shall dress a, sweeter sod 
Than Fancy's feet ha\'e ever trod. 

By t'aii'v hands tiieir knell is runo;; 
By i'orins unseen their diro'e is sung' ; 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; 
And Freedom shall a while repair, 
To dwell a weeping hermit there ! " 

When later we come to the foul deeds planned 
by Benedict Arnold, we shall wish that he, too, had 
fallen lifeless as he entered the o-ates of Ticon- 
deroga, or fearlessly fought before Quebec. Loss 
of honor is far worse than loss of life. Death 
finally found him, in a foreign land, old and feeble, 
shattered in mind and body, despised by even those 
who had been willing to jjrofit by his perfidy. 
Then, and many times before then, he must have 
wished that the bullet which wounded him while 
fighting for his country, might have been guided 
so as to have pierced his heart. 



284 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




STATUE OF UENEHAL WAUKEN. 



NEW ENGLAND'S DEAD. 



New England's dead I New England's dead I 

()u every hill they lie ; 
On every Held of strife made red 

By bloody victory. 
Each valley, where the battle poured 

Its re<l and awful tide, 



EARLY AMEIMPAN HISTORY 2.So 

Beheld the brave New Eiio'hind swoid 

With slaughter deeply dyed. 
Their bones are on the northern hill, 

And on the southern i)lain, 
By brook and river, lake and rill, 

And by the ronring main. 

The land is holy where they fought. 

And holy where they fell ; 
For by their blood that land was liought, 

The land they loved so well. 
Then glory to that valiant band, 
The honored saviors of the laud ! 
Oh ! few and weak their numl>ers were, — 

A handful of brave men ; 
But to their (rod they gave their prayer, 

And rushed to battle then. 
The Cxod of battles heard their cry. 
And sent to them the victory. 

They left the i)loughshare in the mould, 

Their flocks and herds without a fold, 

The sickle in the unshorn grain, 

The corn, half garnered, on the plain, 

And mustered, in their simple dress, 

For wrongs to seek a stern redress ; 

To right those wrongs, come weal, come Avoe 

To perish, or o'ercome theii' foe. 

And Avhere are ye, () fearless men? 

And where are ye to-day .'' 
I call : the hills reply again 

That ye have passed away ; 



28G EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

That on old Bunker's lonely height, 

In Trenton, and in ^lonmoutli ground, 

The grass grows green, tlie harvest bright, 
Above each soldier's mound. 

The l)ugle's wild and Avarlike ))last 

Shall ]nuster them no more ; 
An army now might thunder past. 

And they not heed its roar. 
The starry flag, 'neath which they fought 

Jn many a l)loody day. 
From their old graves shall rouse them not. 

For they have passed away. 

— It^aac McLeUan, ,h 




WASHINGTON. 



XXI. 



WASHINGTON IN COMMAND. 

After the battle of Bunker Hill, the colonial 
forces continued to occupy Boston Neck, Charles- 
town Neck and the intervening land, closely con- 
fining the British in Boston. By the beginning of 
the year 1776, there was a feeling throughout the 
country that more active steps should be taken. 
Washington himself at first favored a general 
assault, but instead it finally was decided to fortify 
Dorchester Heights, commanding the city from the 
south. 

287 



2S.S EARLY AMERirAN HISTORY 

Concealing their movements by a fuiicnis cannon- 
ade, on the night of March 4 a detachment of 
Americans Avith tools for throwing up intrenchments 
succeeded, without beincj- discoverfd, in reachino- 
the hill. With the break of day the British once 
more were astonished to behold their enemies behind 
fortifications overlooking the citv, and this time so 
close that the ships in the harbor could be destroyed 
and the buildings of Boston demolished at will. It 
was necessary at once to drive the Americans from 
the hill, or to abandon the city. 

General Howe, the man who, while saihng into 
the harbor, had made the sarcastic remark about 
the " peasants," now was in command of the troops 
in Boston. He ordered an immediate attack. En- 
couraged by their success in twice repulsing the 
charge on Breed's Hill, and excited by remembering 
that it was the 5th of March, the anniversary of 
the day upon which the regulars had fired on the 
citizens at Boston Common, the men behind the 
breastworks made preparation for the struggle. 

So confidently did they await the issue, that 
Washington planned to throw his army into Boston 
while the British should be in disorder and confu- 
sion at the repulse of their charge. However, a 
violent storm came up, and the attack was deferred 
till the followino- dav. Durinu' the nio-ht tlie tem- 



EARLY AMEHICAN HISTORY 289 

pest increased and by morning- the sea was exceed- 
ingly rough. Meanwhile the Americans had ex- 
tended and increased the intrenchments, and their 
position was well nigh impregnable. 

General Howe carefully considered the situation. 
He surveyed the fortifications frowning down upon 
him from Dorchester Heights, he thought of that 
bloody afternoon on Breed's Hill, and he turned 
and g-azed out towards the open sea. It suddenly 
occurred to him that it would be an excellent plan 
to leave; Boston was not a good place as a base 
of operations, anyway. An informal agreement 
was made whereby the British should not be 
molested in their departure, and they in turn 
should not burn the city. As quickly as pos- 
sible the troops were placed on shipboard, and 
with them fifteen hundred tories, British sym- 
pathizers who feared the anger of the patriots. 
On the 17th of March, all sailed away, and Wash- 
ington, at the head of his victorious army, marched 
into Boston. Thus it is that Howe found "elbow 
room." 

After attending to the complete fortification of 
Boston, Washington went to New York, which he 
feared would be attacked by Howe's fleet. That 
city, indeed, was threatened, but not seriously, by a 
force under General Clinton, who then sailed south. 



29U EAKLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and after having been reinforced determined to 
capture Charleston, South CaroHna. 

In the south, the colonial troops were commanded 
by General Lee. With the first alarm, regiments 
from the surrounding country were rushed into the 
city. Barricades were erected, intrenchments thrown 
up, and every possible step taken to give the British 
a warm welcome. The people of the south were as 
active and patriotic as those of the Jiortli. A 
demand for surrender, with threats of vengeance 
for those who resisted, and forgiveness for those 
who yielded, was spurned indignantly. 

On the 28th of June, the attack commenced. 
The entrance to the harbor was protected by a 
small, half completed fort, since this battle called 
Fort Moultrie, from the name of the intrepid Colonel 
bv whom it was commanded. For ten hours tlie 
war ships poured shot and shell against the little 
fort, but tlie balls sunk into the soft palmetto wood 
of which it was constructed, and did not do the 
expected damage. 

Meanwhile the fire was returned most vigorously. 
In attempting to work around to a position wdiere 
they could cut off communication between the fort 
and the shore three of the vessels went aground. 
A body of troops who tried to ford the channel and 
make an assault were prevented by higii water, and 



EAULY AAIKKin.VN HISTORY 



•21) 1 



were driven back under deadly fire from the rifles 
of the Americans. 

Foiled in every attem])t, with a heavy loss in 
killed and wounded, their sliips damaged by shot 
and fire, at midniiiht the British ceased their efforts, 




SERGEANT .TAMPER RKPTORINO THE FLAO. 

and the next day sailed to the north. It was a 
olorious victory for the garrison. Among its many 
brave defenders must be mentioned Sergeant Jasper, 
who when the flag staff was shot away, heedless of 
danger, sprang over the wall, snatched the banner 



•>\)-l EAIJLY AMERICAN IIISTOKY 

from the otcuikI, fasteiKnl it to the rammer of a 
gun, and set it up again to wave defianth'. 

AH this time the eolonies liave lieen fighting for 
their rights, l)ut not necessarily for separation from 
the old country. Even after tlie commencement of 
the war, the people still hoped for some peaceful 
solution which would render separation unnecessary. 
As time passed, a clearer view of the entire situation 
seemed to indicate that half way measures could 
not succeed. England made immense preparation 
for subduing the colonies, but none towards concil- 
iating them or granting their demands. 

With the spring of '7(3, twentv-five thousand 
additional troops were levied by lier, more warships 
fitted out, a million dollars voted for the war, and 
finally, seventeen thousand Hessian soldiers from 
the petty states of Germany were hired to assist 
the Englishmen in conquering their brothers across 
the sea. 

The step last mentioned greatly exasperated the 
Americans. The action of England in attempting 
by arms to force tyranny upon them was bad 
enough, but when she hired Germans at thirty-six 
dollars a head to help her, fury passed all bounds. 
From this time on, '• Independence " was the 
watchword. Through their assemblies, the ])eople 
began to urge upon Congress the necessity of claim- 




At H' 






f> ^ 



Hf 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 295 

ing complete sovereignty. On May 15 Virginia 
instructed her delegates to propose to Congress " to 
declare the United Colonies free and independent." 

On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee, a dele- 
gate from Virginia, presented to Congress, then in 
S2Ssion in Philadelphia, a resolution declaring that 
the colonies " are and ought to be free and inde- 
pendent." Thus the great question was brought 
before that body for debate. Finally, after long- 
discussion, a vote was deferred till July 1, to give 
all the members time in which to receive instructions 
from their constituents. 

In the meantime a committee, consisting of 
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, was 
appointed to draft a formal Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. This instrument, in the handwriting of 
Jefferson, with a few alterations by some of his 
colleagues, was reported to Congress early in July 
and on the 4th was adopted unanimously. This is 
why we celebrate the Fourth of July, though the 
document was not signed formally till the 2d of 
August. 

In these few words we have described this event, 
of vita) importance, not only to our own country, 
but to the whole world. S'ch an occasion does not 
demand long words or ^ iipous expressions. The 



296 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

declaration itself is sublime in its simplicity and 
directness. Calmly and carefully it was drawn ; 
seriously and deliberately it was discussed ; un- 
shrinkingly and solemnly it was adopted and signed. 
The men in that quiet council chamber were not 
swayed by passion nor carried away by. enthusiasm. 
Though nature's noblemen, they were of humble 
birth, practical, far-seeing. Each, as his vote was 
recorded, realized the possible effect of his action 
upon his fellow country men. Each in imagination 
could reach out his hand and touch the rope which, 
for those who do treason, ever dangles from the 
scaffold of the king. Yet when the news of what 
had been done was borne through the city, and 
ringing bells and joyous shouts greeted the tidings, 
within the Statehouse there was a gladness and con- 
fidence almost prophetic. 

Wildlv clanoed the old Statehouse bell — the 
" Liberty Bell " so carefully guarded to-day — true 
to the inscription it bears : " Proclaim liberty 
throughout all the land and to all the inhabitants 
thereof." So bells have rung on the anniversary 
of that day, through all succeeding years. So may 
they ring through all the years to come, is the 
prayer of all who listen to the sound. 

Such also was the dream of patriots a century 
and a quarter ago. John Adams, one of the com- 



EARLY AMERICAN THSTORY 



29' 



niittee who drew the Declaration, then Avrote as 
follows: "I am apt to believe that this day will 
be celebrated by succeeding generations as the 
great anniversary festival. It ought to be solem- 
nized with ponq) and parade, with shows, games, 
sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from 




THE LIBKRTY BELL. 



one end of this continent to the other, from this 
time forth and forever more." Is not that a good 
description of our Fourth of July? 

The passage of the Declaration of Independence 
doubtless was a source of great satisfaction to 
Washington. Now the final step had been taken. 
There could be no dallying, no going back. With 



298 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

renewed energy he turned his attention to General 
Howe, who, when he left Boston, had gone, not to 
New York, as was anticipated, but to Halifax. 
Early in July, however, Howe had decided to pro- 
ceed against New York, and had landed his forces 
on Staten Island. Here he was joined by General 
Clinton, fresh from his unsuccessful attempt against 
Charleston. On the 22d of August, British forces 
to the number of ten thousand crossed to the south- 
western coast of Longf Island. Eight thousand 
Americans, under command of Generals Sullivan 
and Stirling, were in Brooklyn. 

Now the fortune of war Avas with the British. 
Their advance, carefully planned and executed in 
three divisions, was successful. The Americans, 
though only after a desperate struggle, were de- 
feated, with the loss of one thousand killed, 
wounded, and missing. Among the prisoners w^ere 
Generals Sullivan and Stirlino-. This is known as 
the battle of Long Island. 

From the bluffs across the river Washington 
witnessed this disaster. Immediately he crossed to 
Brooklyn and set to work with consummate skill to 
reorganize the scattered troops and prepare for the 
expected assault upon the city. For some reason, 
Howe did not press his advantage. Here was 
Washington's opportunity. On the night of the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



299 



29th, while a dense fog covered island and river, 
leaving camp fires clearly burning to deceive the 
enemy he transferred his entire forces to the other 
shore. 







BATTLE OF LOKC ISLAND 



All night long, with muffled oars, the boats bear- 
ing the colonial troops moved back and forth, and 
all night long the British sentries, pacing to and fro, 
watched the gleaming fires, waiting for the dawn 
to complete their victory. The last boat load was 
discovered just as it was leaving in the dim light of 



300 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

the eai'iv morning-. Frantically the British rnshed 
forward to find an empty camp. Howe had won 
in battle, bnt had gained only the possession of 
Long' Island. This masterly retreat marked Wash- 
in i»ton as one of the world's "reatest <>'enerals. 

While these events had been taking place aronnd 
New York, the Americans who had unsuccessfnlly 
attacked Quebec gradually had fallen back to Fort 
Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. They were fol- 
lowed by the Canadian forces under General Carle- 
ton. Li their retreat the Americans had rendered 
useless all the boats along the lake, and as the thick 
forests made passage along the sliore by land 
impossible, Carleton was compelled to construct a 
fleet. He did it Avith much energy, and by October 
he had thirty vessels, manned by seven hundred 
picked seamen. Opposed to them were sixteen 
boats of various kinds, manned by soldiers under 
Benedict Arnold, who yet was lighting for freedom. 

On October 11 the little fleets met in desperate 
conflict near Valcour Island. Arnold, while shot 
and shell rained aronnd him, when the hull of his 
boat was pierced by cannon balls, and masts and 
rioo'inof were sfone, still cheered his men and in- 
sjiired them by his own example. Darkness came 
and neither side had yielded. 

Arnold knew that, with the odds so much against 



EARLY AMEHirAN HISTOR\'' 301 

him, he eoiikl not destroy the British fleet. In the 
darkness of the night he sUpped between the 
enemies' vessels, and escaped down the lake. For 
two days he was pursued, and. while the ships in 
the lead got away safely, Arnold's boat was over- 
taken. After fighting- till she almost sank under 
him, finally he ran her on the beach and burned 
her to avoid surrender. Then overland he made 
his way to Ticonderoga. 

The lateness of the season prevented Carleton 
from attacking- the fort and he went into winter 
quarters. Arnold had won great credit by his bril- 
liant work, which had prevented Carleton from 
joining the forces around New York. This is the 
man whom at a subsequent date we must write 
down a traitor. 

Now we return to New York. The defeat in the 
battle of Long- Island was most disheartenino-. 
Following it came the first of many gloomy days 
for Washington. The entire army was discouraged 
and dispirited. Whole regiments left for their 
homes, and desertions increased in number. An 
ordinary man would have given up, or perhaps 
immediately risked all in one rash encounter. It 
was not so with Washington. In days of defeat, 
rather than in time of victory, he showed his great- 
est military genius and strength of character. 



302 EAULY AMKRITAX TIISTOKY 

Tt would be of such help to Washington if he 
might learn the })lans of General Howe, that he 
called for some one to enter, under disguise, the 
enemies' camp and thus obtain the necessary infor- 
mation. Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, volunteered 
for this purpose. Just as he was retnrning, faith- 
fully having performed his mission, lie was arrested 
as a spy. He boldly confessed his purpose, though 
he knew the penalty was death. 

On the 21st of September he was convicted. 
The next mornino- he was hang-ed. A minister and 
even a Bible were denied him. His letter to his 
mother was destroyed. In every way he was 
treated roughly and brutally. Remember this when 
you read how kindly the Americans attended Major 
Andre, who later suffered the same penalty at their 
hands. Hale died like a hero. His last words 
were : " I only regret that I have but one life to 
lose for my country." 

On September 15 the British landed on Man- 
hattan Island. Previons to this the fleet had sailed 
around the western point of Long Island and an- 
chored near the city. Washington retired north- 
ward to Harlem Heights and Howe took possession 
of New York. A series of retreats on the part of 
the Americans now became necessary. 

On October 28 the battle of White Plains was 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 303 

fought, and, though the result was not decisive, 
Washino-ton retired to the Heiohts of New Castle. 
Then, fearing an attack on Philadelphia, he crossed 
to the west bank of the Hudson. Fort Washington, 
on Manhattan Island, soon fell into the hands of 
the victorious British and, a little later, Fort Lee, 
on the west bank of the Hudson, also surrendered. 
With his little army of but three thousand men 
Washington retreated through New Jersey, and on 
the eighth of December crossed the Delaware River 
at Trenton ; so closely was he pursued that the 
enemy under General Cornwallis arrived in time to 
watch the last load reach the opposite shore. As 
Washington had ruined or employed every boat, 
the British could not follow till the river froze, or 
a bridge was built. 

• The English considered the war already over. 
When the ice formed they could cross and capture 
the " rebel capital," Philadelphia ; or they might 
defer action till spring, as campaigning in such 
cold weather was not agreeable. At this critical 
point Washington devised a scheme to bring dis- 
comfort to his opponents, and also to revive the 
spirit of his own countrymen. It was a bold move, 
brilliantly executed. Trenton was occupied by a 
force of Hessians who shared the overconfidence of 
their English brothers in arms. The Americans 



304 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

planned to cross and attack tbem wliile they cele- 
brated the Christmas festival, 

Tlie movement, in three detachments, began on 
the evening of the 25th of December. It was so 
bitter cold and the river was so fall of floating ice, 
that two of the detachments gave np the attempt • 
but neither cold nor ice could stop men whom 
Washington led. Although delayed by the peril- 
ous passage till eight in the morning, and fearful 
lest the advance had bt;come known, the troops 
pressed on and soon, in two divisions, rushed into 
Trenton. The Hessians, having feasted and ch-ank 
through all Christmas Eve, were in heavy slumber. 
The surprise was complete. 

Their commander was slain, one thousand were 
made prisoners, and six cannon, a thousand stands 
of arms, and four colors, were captured. By night- 
fall Washington, with his prisoners and booty, had 
recrossed the river. The Americans lost five men, 
two of whom were frozen to death. 

The effect of this victory was magical. The 
colonies had been discouraged by retreat after 
retreat. Even Congress had been depressed, and 
the whole country was looking forward gloomily to 
fresh disasters. Now it was learned that in the 
hands of a skilful general, a wise retreat is often 
but the means of winning an unexpected victory. 



EARLY AMF:KICAN HISTORY 305 

Confidence in Washington, and faith in the snccess 
of the cause, returned ; fresh troops from neighbor- 
ing colonies hurried to the scene ; sokliers whose 
terms were expiring gladly re-enlisted ; and in a few 
days the colonial army, re-enforced and encourao-ed, 
again crossed the Delaware and occupied Trenton. 
This change was the result of the genius and daring 
of Washington. 

The effect on the British, too, was equally mar- 
vellous. General Cornwallis had gone to New 
York, had applied for a leave of absence, and had 
intended to make a visit to England. Now he 
hastily returned to New Jersey. At length he real- 
ized that in Washington he had a foe, cautious it 
may be when necessary, but bold and quick to 
strike when the right moment arrived. December 
began with Washington in full retreat and the 
British on a victorious march towards Philadelphia. 
The year closed with the enthusiastic American 
army holding Trenton, and with the surprised 
British at Princeton, preparing to light for the 
possession of even northern New Jersey. 




NATHAN HALE MONUMENT. NEW VOKK. 



EARLY AMERrCAN HISTORY 307 

NATHAN HALE. 

To (Irnni-lieat and heart beat a soldier inarches by ; 
There is color in his cheek, there is courage in his eye, — 
Yet to drum-beat and heart-lieat, in a moment, he must die. 

By starlight and moonlight ho seeks the Briton's camp; 
He hears the rustling Hag, and the armed sentry's tramp ; 
And the starlight and moonlight his silent wanderings lamp. 

With slow tread and still tread, he scans the tented line. 
And he counts the Jiattery guns by the gaunt and shadowy 

pine ; 
And his slow tread and still tread gives no warning sign. 

The dark wave, the plumed wave, it meets his eager glance ; 
And it sparkles 'neatli the stars like the glimmer of a lance, 
A dark w^^ve, a |)lnmed wave, on an emerald expanse. 

A sharp clang, a steel clang, and terror in the sound, 

For the sentry, falcon-eyed, in the camp a spy hath found; 

With a sharp clang, a steel clang, the i)atriot is l)ound. 

With calm brow, steady brow, he listens to his doom ; 
In his look there is no fear, nor a shadow-trace of gloom ; 
But with calm brow and steady brow he robes liim for the 
tomb. '■ 

Tn the long night, the still night, he kneels upon the sod ; 
And the ])rutal guards withhold e'en the solemn Word of 

God. 
In the long night, the still night, he walks where Christ 

hath trod. 



•JOS EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

' Neath the blue morn, tlie sunny morn, he dies upon the 

tree ; 
And he mourns that '^ he can h)se l>ut one life for Liberty ; "' 
And in the bliif morn, the sunny morn, his spirit-wino's are 

free. 

From the Fame-leaf and tlie Aii<iel-leaf, from monument to 

urn. 
The sad of earth, the i>lad of heaven, his tragic fate shall 

learn ; 
And on Fame-leaf and on Angel-leaf the name of Hale 

shall luirn. 

— Francis Miles Finch. 



XXII. 



DARK DAYS. 

Although the Americans 
were encouraged by their 
recent victory over the 
Hessians, the new year pre- 
sented a serious problem to 
the army in Trenton. In 
front, Cornwallis had ad- 
vanced to the outskirts of 
the city. To fight him 
openly seemed to involve 
certain defeat. This would 
mean the capture of the 
entire army, as retreat was cut off by the river. To 
cross the river secretly and escape was too hazardous 
to undertake. Even if not molested by the enemy, 
it would be almost impossible to propel boats amid 
the floating ice. The chances were, too, that the 
colonial troops would be discovered and attacked in 
the confusion of embarkino-. Yet somethinof must 
be done, for surrender would be a disaster from 
which the cause scarcely could hope to recover. 

309 




GBN. CORNWAr.I.IS. 



310 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Again the genius of Washington came to the 
rescue. On the night of January 2, the whole 
army quickly and quietly was put in motion. To 




SCKNE OF ACTIO:^ ALONG THE DELAWARE UIVKK. 

deceive the enemy, camp fires brightly burned, as 
they had on Long Island, and soldiers were detailed 
to keep them going throughout the night. A 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 311 

detachment also was left at work in the trenches, 
so that the British might hear the sound of spade 
and pickax. The plan was to pass around the 
flank of Cornwallis's army, attack Princeton, and 
then fall on New Brunswick, where the British 
kept their stores. 

The movement was successful in every particular. 
The olare of the fires and the noises of men labor- 
ing in the trenches completely deceived the enem3^ 
When morning came, Cornwallis found that the 
wily foe had escaped him. How and in what 
direction he could not tell. Soon the answer to 
his many questions was borne on the breeze from 
Princeton, eighteen miles away, where the sound of 
heavy firing disclosed the presence of Washington 
and his army. Cornwallis had been hoodwinked 
and outgeneraled. 

In Princeton, likewise, there had been a great 
surj3rise. Two regiments were marching out in the 
early morning to join Cornwallis at Trenton, when 
most unexpectedly the forces under Washington 
appeared. Fighting commenced immediately. From 
behind a fence the Americans poured volley after 
volley into the ranks of the enemy. All was going 
well until the British, withholding their powder, 
made a gallant charge-, depending on the bayonet 
alone. Before the cold steel the militia fled in 



312 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

terror. A line of reserves, consisting- of more 
experienced regulars, tried to stop them, but the 
flio'ht continued. It seemed for a moment that 
Washington's plan, so carefully made and executed, 
was to meet with defeat. 

This was for a moment only. Then Washington 
showed another side of his character — his own 
personal bravery. Snatching the colors from the 
hands of a fleeing soldier, he spurred his horse into 
the open ground between pursued and pursuers, 
within thirty yards of the enemy, a fair mark for 
every rifle. Then, waving- the flag' on high, he 
called on his men to follow where he led. Tlie 
effect was instantaneous. Turning- about, the re- 
treatino; Americans aaain attacked with an ardor 
which mnst bring' victory. 

For this, Washington apparently had sacrificed his 
life. Distinguished by the colors and his dignified 
bearing-, he might expect to receive the especial 
attention of scores of Britisii rifles. He also was 
exposed to the general fire of the entire Hue, and 
was in almost equal tlanger from his own men, 
whose muskets were pointed in liis direction. So 
inevitable seemed death, that an aide covered his 
eyes in order not to behold the destruction of his 
beloved commander. 

Quickly came the discharge from the opposing' 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 313 

ranks, but when the smoke cleared away, there sat 
Washington, his flag- still waving, his eyes still 
flashing, and his form untouched by a single bullet. 
Not even when coverinof Braddock's defeat had he 
escaped so great peril. We must believe that a kind 
Providence again preserved him for future years. 

Before this renewed attack the British fled and 
Wilshino'ton entered Princeton. On account of 
the weariness of his men, who had been without 
rest for two days and nights, he determined not to 
proceed against New Brunswick, and took up a 
strong position to the north, at Morristown. Corn- 
wallis hurried from Trenton, but gave up the idea 
of pursuit, and moved on to New Brunswick. 
Washington, by means of small expeditions, soon 
obtained control of all of northern New Jersey. 
Of the whole state, the English held New Brunswick 
and Amboy only. 

Instead of capturing Philadelphia, the campaign 
of a few days made it probable that the British 
must abandon New Jersey. This proved to be the 
result. Although Howe came on from New York 
with reinforcements and some hard fighting fol- 
lowed, on the 30th of June the entire army crossed 
over to Staten Island. 

In the last chapter we left General Carleton in 
winter quarters near Lake Champlain. Early in 



314 



EARLY AMEIUCAN HISTORY 



the year, Lieutenant-General Biirgoyne succeeclecl 
Cai'leton in coinmaiul of the Eno-lish forces in 
Canada, and in June, at the head of an army of 
ten thonsand men, he reached the Lake. His pLan 
was to descend ah)ng* the Hudson River and unite 
with Howe's army, cutting- off communication 
between New Eno'land and the other cohjnies. 

o 

That his veteran army conkl be hindered seriously 

by colonial troops probably 
never occurred to h i m . 
Still, as the past has fur- 
nished many surprises for 
the British, it now may be 
interesting' to see what hap- 
pened to Burgoyne. 

At first the invaders met 
with little resistance. Fort 
Ticonderoga was deserted. 
The headquarters of Gen- 
eral Schuyler, who was in 
command of the northern 
division of the American armv, were at Fort 
Edward, farther to the south. He fell Ijack as 
far as the mouth of the Mohawk river, and 
on July 30 Burgoyne entered Fort Edw^ard. In 
England there was cheer and rejoicing. Nothing 
could stop the triumphant procession of Bur- 




OEN. PHILIP gfllL'YLER. 



EAKLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



315 



goyne. Again the end of the war was near at 
hand. 

Now it chanced that the British were running" 
short of food, and as it is one of the first rules of 
war that a soldier must eat before a battle, or at 
least very soon afterwards, Colonel Baum was sent 
on an excursion to Bennington, a small Vermont 
village, to capture some provisions stored there. 
He was met by New Hamp- 
shire militia under Colonel 
John Stark, and the Battle 
of Bennington followed, re- 
sulting: in one of the most 
brilliant American victories 
in the whole war. 

As the column advanced 
to storm the British posi- 
tion, Stark placed himself at 
its head, shouting, " There 
are the redcoats ; we must 
beat them today or Mollie 
Stark 's a widow." Beat them they did, till the sur- 
vivors were glad to flee, abandoning baggage and 
artillery. Beat them they did a second time, when 
Hessian reinforcements renewed the battle; and when 
nig-ht fell, thoug-h Stark's horse was killed under him, 
Mollie was not a widow, but the wife of a living hero. 




GEN. JOHN STARK. 



316 



EARLY A:\IKUICAN HISTORY 



News of this defeat was a severe blow to Bur- 
goyne. To add to his discomfort, about the same 
time came word that his comrade in arms, General 
St. Leger, who meanwhile had been besieging Gen- 
eral Schuyler at the head of the Mohawdv River, had 
been compelled to retreat northward ; and let us 
note that the man who led the expedition before 
which St. Leger fled, was Benedict Arnold. 

Bnrgoyne began to see 
that he had stirred up a 
h(n"nets' nest. He was 
ashamed to go back, and 
he clearly peiceived that 
danger lay ahead. General 
Gates was now in com- 
mand instead of General 
Schuyler. His forces con- 
stantly were being aug- 
mented by militia coming 
from New England and 
from the main army luider 
Washinoton. The result at Benninoton aroused all 
the country. Every day added to the strength of 
the Americans and increased their enthusiasm. 

Bnrgoyne pushed on slowly. Word was sent 
General Clinton in New York, asking for assistance. 
Every day Burgoyne hoped to hear that Clinton's 




CEN. IIOKATIO GATES. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY ;517 

forces, ascending the river, were where they could aid 
him. No help came. He must fig-ht it out alone. 

On the 19th of September he engaged the 
colonial forces just beyond Saratoga, in a general 
battle which lasted all day without decisive results. 
This is known as the Battle of Stillwater. From 
that time on, Gates drew his lines closer and closer. 
On October 7 there was another enoao-ement lastino- 
from noon till dark, and called the Battle of Bemis 
Heights. It was a complete victory for the Ameri- 
cans, though for some time the outcome was in 
doubt, While the conflict was at its heierht, into 
the thickest of the fight wildly dashed a man on 
horseback. Like a madman he rode up and down 
in front of the Americans, shouting his commands 
above the din of battle. Like a fiend he charged 
in advance of the line, into the very arms of the 
British soldiers. At length, as the victory was 
won, he fell badly wounded, but conscious that no 
small share of the glory was his. The name of this 
man was Benedict Arnold. 

After the battle Burgoyne retreated to the north 
but found escape cut off in every direction. On 
the 17th of October, when further resistance was 
useless and starvation was near at hand, the entire 
army, containing five thousand eight hundred men, 
with artillery, muskets and ammunition, surrendered 



318 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

to General Gates. Great was the joy throughout 
the colonies ; and in England, great the gloom, 
when the news, at first discredited there, finally 
was confirmed. 

But affairs had not heen progressing so well with 
Washington in the south. Howe, after abandoning 
New Jersey, in the latter part of July attempted to 
attack Philadelphia by way of the Delaware River. 
Foiled in this by the watchful Washington, who 
suspected his purpose, he landed at the head of 
Chesapeake Bay, and started overland for Philadel- 
phia. Washington stationed his army at Wilming- 
ton, Delaware, and resolved to risk a battle to save 
the capital. On the 11th of September, on the 
banks of the Brandywdne River, the opposing 
forces met and the Americans were defeated. 

The day after the battle Washington withdrew 
to Germantown, a few miles from Philadelphia. 
He still was anxious to hazard another encraofement 
before relinquishing Philadelphia. On the 15th 
the two armies were about to try conclusions again, 
but a violent storm came up, wetting the ammuni- 
tion and making a fight impossible. After manoeu- 
veringf for a few davs, Howe managed to reach the 
ford at Morristown, and on the 26tli of September 
entered Philadelphia. The main body of the Brit- 
ish troops was posted at Germantown. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY ,",I9 

Congress, at Howe's approach, removed to Lan- 
caster. Washington encamped about twenty miles 
from Philadelphia. On the 3d of October, he 
determined to attack the British at Germantown. 
The movement was begun during the night, in the 
hope of surprising the enemy as had been done on 
previous occasions. Bad roads made quick march- 
ing difficult, and Howe's army had prepared for 
combat before a general attack could be made. A 
fierce battle followed, and for a while fortune 
favored the Americans. In the end, nevertheless, 
Howe was victorious, and Washington retired to 
Whitemarsh, a few miles away. 

During October and November, the British 
strengthened their positions by taking Forts 
Mifflin and Mercer on the Delaware River, thus 
controlling that important stream. Then Howe 
comfortably settled down in Philadelphia for the 
winter, and on December 11 Washington moved 
from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge, to go into 
winter quarters also. 

In the battles and skirmishes between Washington 
and Howe, which we have outlined, success was 
uniformly with the British. In justice it must be 
remembered, however, that though the two armies 
were about equal in numbers, the advantage in 
every otlier respect was with King George's men. 



320 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Under Howe were veteran English and Hessian 
soldiers perfectly armed, plentifully supplied with 
ammunition, finely drilled and disciplined, and by 
no means least of all, well clothed and well nourished. 
The troops under Washington always w^ere in need 
of arms, ammunition, food, and clothing. Brave 
they were and patriotic, but they lacked the dis- 
cipline which can be attained by only years of 
actual service. 

That these ragged, half armed, half fed, undis- 
ciplined militia had met Howe's army without being 
captured or even scattered, is a real tribute to the 
skill and personality of Washington. At the end 
of the whole campaign, the British had gained a 
snug home in Philadelphia. That was all. 

Very marked is the contrast between the two 
armies now in winter quarters. The British in 
Philadelphia have every comfort, and even luxury. 
With them there is warmth and cheer, food and 
wine, feasting, carousing, song, and laughter. 
Truly, under such conditions, a soldier's life is a 
merry one. Now look at ^^ alley Forge. No one 
has sufficient food, clothing, bedding, or shelter. 
There is more than mere discomfort or annoyance. 
There is actual pain and privation beyond the power 
of pen to picture. Shoeless feet leave bloody tracks 
on the ice and snow ; shirtless bodies shiver in the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 321 

shrill blasts; blanketless forms huddle on the hard 
ground without even straw for bedding. 

When one is hungry, there is moldy food ; when 
chilled, there is melted snow to drink; when sick, 
there is no medicine ; when sleepy, the bare ground 
for a couch ; when freezing, a log hut and a smol- 
dering fire for warmth. By February, through 
lack of clothinof, four thousand men were unfit for 
service. Many more were disabled through sickness 
and disease, yet the conditions in the hospital were 
so wretched that sick soldiers preferred to remain 
in their huts and die in the open air. 

Under these privations, men fighting for pay or 
glory would have surrendered or returned to their 
homes. In this army of patriots, there was no 
murmuring, little complaining, few desertions. 
Silently they sufl^ered, bravely they endured, and by 
their loyalty and fortitude proved themselves worthy 
of the success which in the end came to them. 

Washington was moved greatly by the distress 
of his followers, but little could he do save to com- 
fort and sustain them by word and example. Their 
confidence in him never wavered and their love for 
him increased. Deeply their devotion must have 
touched his heart, for from other parts of the coun- 
try came complaints and criticism, harder far to 
bear than the gloom and sorrow at Valley Forge. 



322 EAKLy AM?:HICAN HISTORY 

The campaign of Washington was a series of 
retreats. Not a sinole disastrons defeat had been 
administered by him to the English. In the north, 
however, the captnre of Burgovne's Lirge army had 
spread the fame of General Gates thronghont the 
colonies. The escape by Washington from Long- 
Island, his masterly retreat throngh New Jersey, 
his crossing of the Delaware, his victory over the 
Hessians, his confusion of Howe l)y the attack on 
Princeton, — all were forgotten in the glory of the 
new conqueror. 

Envy, malice, and ambition commenced their 
work, at first secretly, in nnsigned letters and 
rumors which could not be traced, then more openly 
and defiantly. The northern army had been suc- 
cessful through the superior leadership of Gates. 
Under his command, the army in the south likewise 
would be victorious. Washington had showed his 
weakness and should be removed. Gates had 
proven his ability and should be made commander- 
in chief. 

So ran the reports, and such were the charges 
against Washinoton. Gates, thouo'h he entered a 
denial later, in the outset certainly did nothing to 
discourage the movement. He desired the honor 
even at the expense of his friend's degradation. 
On Washington's feelings, when he found abuse 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 393 

and slander, where he needed assistance and sym- 
pathy, we shall not dwell Soon he triumphed over 
his enemies and his defamers were silenced ; but his 
faithfulness, patience and dig-nity in the hour of 
trial and humiliation should not be foro-otten 

VV e are too apt to think of him only as a general, 
listening to the applause of a victorious army, or as 
a statesman, leading a confiding people. Had there 
been a weakness in his nature or a flaw in his char- 
acter, his career, so brilliantly begun, here would 
have ended in failure. The true picture of Wash- 
ington at Valley Forge is even more worthy our 
admiration than the more familiar ones of Wash- 
ington crossing the Delaware or saying farewell 
to his army. 



XXIII. 



BRIGHTER DAYS. 

So far we have traced the 
progress of the conflict without 
any reference to France. It 
win be remembered that she 
was the hereditary enemy of 
England, and that at the close 
of the French and Indian War 
her one consolation in the hour 
of defeat was the belief that, 
as a final result, the English 
would lose their possessions in 
the new world. Now for over 
two years the colonies have been struggling against 
Great Britain, and before we proceed, let us see what 
has been done towards obtaining foreign aid, and 
whether France has been neoflectinfj- an issue in the 
success of which she should be so greatly interested. 
In March, 1776, before the Declaration of 
Independence was passed, Silas Deane was sent to 
France to arouse sympathy for the colonial cause, 
and to treat with the king. The French minister 

324 




LAFAYETTE. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 325 

at that time was Count de Vergennes, whose words 
predicting- American independence have been 
quoted in a previous chapter. Naturally, the king, 
with such an adviser, showed a very friendly dis- 
position. In June of the same year, as soon as 
independence definitely was decided upon, Benjamin 
Franklin was dispatched by Congress on a similar 
mission. Though of humble birth, and self edu- 
cated, Franklin was a man of rare intellectual power 
and broad scholarship. In the brilliant court of 
Louis XVI. he more than held his own with the 
brightest and the wittiest. 

At first France would not openly espouse the 
American cause. It seemed best to act secretly 
and wait until the outcome appeared clearer, before 
taking steps which of necessity would involve war 
with England. Still, very substantial help was 
given almost immediately. As early as the spring 
of 1776 large amounts of powder, artillery, and 
equipments were shipped to America as private 
merchandise and with the knowledge of the court. 
The protests of the English minister were unavail- 
ing. The French government merely denied any 
responsibility and through the usual channels ex- 
pressed its regrets that any of its subjects should 
have disregarded the treaty rights of England. 
Meanwhile the shipments continued. 



326 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



111 January, 1777, the king- announced that a 
large sum of money would be paid to the colonies 
quarterly, and the amount would be increased as 
fast as his resources would allow. About that time 
Frenchmen, too, began coming to America to assist 
in the war. Among the first was Lafayette, who, 




WASHIXGION AM> LAFAYETTE. 



at the age of nineteen years, purely for love of 
liberty risked his life and fortune in behalf of the 
struggling patriots. Hatred and jealousy of Eng- 
land may have been the motives which prompted 
the king of France, but Lafayette fought for the 
holy princi{)le of freedom. 

Later we shall see that he played an important 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 327 

part ill the operations which closed the war. Among- 
the many heroes of this eventful period, few appeal 
more strongly to our sympathy and affections than 
this French boy, not only a brilliant officer, but a 
friend dear as a son to our beloved Washington. 

While all this help was greatly appreciated, the 
Americans by no means relaxed their efforts to 
make an open alliance with France and secure the 
assistance of her fleets and armies. At last the 
victory over Burgoyne brought matters to a crisis. 
Here the colonial armies had given evidence of 
their strength. France no longer hesitated. 

On the 6th of February, 1778, she made a formal 
treaty with the United States in which the inde- 
pendence of the colonies was acknowledged. If 
Ens'land declared war aiiainst France, as seemed 
inevitable, neither party to the treaty was to con- 
clude terms of peace without the consent of the 
other. 

News of this important event reached America 
in April and great was the rejoicing. Welcome 
indeed were the tidinos to Washinoton and the 
little army at Valley Forge. England, too, now 
began to appreciate the gravity of the situation. 
Propositions for peace were made to Congress. 
They yielded every demand of the colonies, except 
independence. Had these concessions been offered 



328 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

earlier, they would have been accepted gladly. 
Now they were spurned. Having gone thus far, 
the Americans would be satisfied with nothing^ less 
than absolute and complete independence. 

Early in 1778 Sir Henry Clinton succeeded Gen- 
eral Howe. The British forces remained in Phila- 
delphia until summer. In the meantime a fleet 
under Count d'Estaing had left France, hoping to 
sail up the Delaware River and cooperate with the 
Americans under Washino-ton in an attack on 
Philadeljjhia. Rumors regarding this fleet reached 
Clinton and on June 18 he left Philadelphia for 
New York. Washington followed him, and on the 
28th an encounter took place at Monmouth. As 
the result of the day's battle, success was with the 
Americans, and morning eagerly was awaited for 
completing the victory. During the night, howev^er, 
Clinton escaped unnoticed, and reached New York 
in safety. 

The British forces at Monmouth outnumbered 
the Americans two to one, and Congress publicly 
thanked Washington for his skill in successfully 
attacking Clinton's army and so soon after emerg- 
ing from Valley Forge. The entire credit is due 
to him, for he acted against the advice of his com- 
panions. He also was embarrassed by the presence 
of a resentful and obstinate officer. General Lee, 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



329 




GEN. CHARLES LEE. 



whose actions in the face o£ 
the enemy Avere ahnost trai- 
torous. 

In planning for the battle, 
Lee was sent ahead, in com- 
mand of the advance o-uard 
of about five thousand men. 
On the morninof of the 21st 
he was ordered to attack Clin- 
ton, unless there were strong- 
reasons to the contrary. Later, 
Washington, marching with 
the main division of the army to the support of 
Lee, was astonished and alarmed to find the troops 
in full retreat, apparently without having made any 
serious attack or having been assaulted by any large 
force of the enemy. 

Immediately Washington demanded an explana- 
tion of Lee, and received an abrupt and discourte- 
ous answer. Then the indio-nation of Washingfton 
knew no bounds. Lee was ordered to the rear, a 
new line of battle was formed, and the retreat 
checked so that the day was won instead of lost. 

At the white heat of ano^er Washinofton, in 
expressing his views to Lee, used no uncertain terms 
and perhaps his language was more emphatic than 
elegant. It was an occasion when wrath not only 



3;3() EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

is to be excused but even aduiirecl. There were 
good grounds to suspect disobedience to orders 
which amounted to treachery and treason, and no 
explanation was vouchsafed by the haughty Lee. 
Ah'eady we have learned to appreciate the bravery, 
the skill, the patience and the modesty of Washing- 
ton. Now we love him the more because he shows 
himself a passionate leader of men — a leader with 
the warm, red blood of manhood in his veins; over- 
riding opposition, rebuking a disobedient general, and 
yet thinking so clearly as to turn defeat into victory! 

After the engagement, Lee sent two sharp letters 
to Washington, demanding an explanation of the 
lanouao-e used on the battle field. For this, and 
the conduct already mentioned, he was court mar- 
tialed and sentenced to be dismissed for one year 
from the service. He never rejoined the army, and 
died before the war was over. 

Before farther followino- the armies of Washino-- 
ton and Clinton, we must turn our attention to 
eastern Pennsylvania. The sun shines on no fairer 
land than the hills and vales along the Susquehanna 
River. On the banks of this stream, in the times of 
which we are reading, lay the village of Wyoming 
and a few small forts. For miles around in all 
directions were fruitful farms and comfortable 
thouofh humble homes. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 331 

The peojDle of the valley, while of peaceful 
disposition, were patriotic, also, and the able bodied 
men had gone to the south to fight for their 
country. Taking advantage of this weakness, 
Major John Butler, a colonist, but a tory, in July 
marched from Niagara aofainst these defenceless 
inhabitants. He had an army of fifteen hundred 
men, many of them being fierce and uncontrollable 
savao'es. 

A few boys and feeble men, hastily armed and 
gathered together, attempted to oi)pose the approach 
of this army, but with disastrous results. They 
were cut down without mercy, and only a few made 
their escape to the fort in Wyoming. There they 
were followed by a demand from Butler for imme- 
diate surrender. The summons was emphasized, 
tradition has it, by the display of one hundred and 
ninety-six scalps from the heads of those just slain. 
Seeing that resistance would be useless, and half 
relying on assurances of safety, the garrison opened 
the gates. 

Then commenced a slaughter almost unparalleled 
in the bloody history of Indian warfare. Some 
were killed where they stood, others were reserved 
for torture, and still others were imprisoned in 
wooden buildings, which then were burned to the 
ground. Ties of kinship were forgotten, for there 



332 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



are tales of more than one man who stained his 
hands in the blood of his father, mother, sisters, 
and brothers. When this cruel work was over, up 
and down the beautiful valley these red and white 
marauders roamed, spreading- death and destruction. 
With such fiendish allies did England attempt to 
subdue the colonies. 




ATTACKED BV INDIANS. 



The other events of the year we can mention but 
briefly. A combined attack upon New York by 
land and water was planned, but finally a severe 
storm prevented. Newport w^as captured by the 
English and the shipping along the coast destroyed. 
In November, the French fleet sailed to operate 
against the British West Indies. During the last 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



383 



few clays of December, Savannah, after a gallant 
fight against great odds, fell into the hands of the 
Eno'lish. 

The year closed with the American army under 
Washington in winter quarters at Middlebrook, 
New Jersey. The English were holding New York, 
Newport and Savannah — not a very satisfactory 
progress on their part for almost four years of war ! 

In the north the important operations of 1779 
commenced by a movement of General Clinton 
against West Point, on the Hudson River, where 
the United States Military Academy now is situated. 
Washington had selected this site for important 
fortifications, but they were only half completed 
and the garrison could offer no resistance. On 
June 1, Clinton took pos- 
session and at the same 
time captured Verplanli's 
Point on the other side of 
the river. 

Early in July, Washing- 
ton determined to recapture 
West Point. The mission 
was intrusted to twelve hun- 
dred light infantry under 
General Wayne, who from 
his bold deeds became 




GEN. ANTHONY WAYNE. 



3;U EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

known as '' Mad Anthony " Wavne. At midnig'ht 
on the loth he reached the base of the fortifica- 
tions, without being discovered. Here the men 
were halted while orders for the desperate assault 
were sfiven. 

The advance was in two columns from opposite 
sides of the fort. Reliance was on the bayonet 
alone. Every musket w^as unloaded. One man, 
who in defiance of the command, persisted in charg- 
ing his piece, received a thrust tlirough the body 
from an officer's sword. This was no time for 
fooling. On obedience depended the lives of the 
Americans and the success of the undertaking. 

Shortly after midnight the impetuous charge 
was made. The troops were received with a storm 
of bullets and grape shot, but they never flinched 
nor wavered. Over the fort they swarmed, and in 
the center the two columns met, with tlie garrison 
hemmed in between them. At once the British 
surrendered, throwinsf down their arms and callinof 
for quarter. This in every case was granted. The 
patriots did not wage war after the manner of the 
Indians and tories. 

Wayne proceeded to dismantle the fort, and 
moved away with captured ammunition and stores 
to the value of one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars. One incident in this event shows the stern 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 33;' 

reality of war. Out of twenty men who volunteered 
to act as a " forlorn hope " and inarch at the head 
of an attacking- column, seventeen were killed or 
wounded. 

The remaining movements in the north during 
the year 1779 included an expedition fitted out in 
Boston against a post which the British were es- 
tablishing at Penobscot, Maine. A fleet of thirty- 
seven vessels and a land force of thirty-five hundred 
men were leagued in the movement. It was 
entirely unsuccessful, and the American ships were 
attacked and destroyed by an English fleet which 
suddenly appeared. 

Mention, too, should be made of an army sent in 
Ausfust aofainst the Indians and tories in Penn- 
sylvania, who had intrenched themselves at Elmira 
on the Tioga River. The fort was captured by a 
brilliant attack. Then the army marched through 
the valley destroying Indian villages and tory farms. 
Thus the Wyoming massacre partially was avenged. 

In the south, in the meantime, Georgia had been 
overrun with English troops operating from 
Savannah. The British inroads culminated on the 
29th of January, with the capture of Augusta. 
In February this city was abandoned, on account of 
colonial successes in South Carolina, and the royal 
army under General Campbell retreated towards 



336 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




GEN. B. LINCOLN. 



Savannah. General Lincoln, 
now ill command of the 
American forces in the 
south, sent three thousand 
men under General Ashe to 
intercept the British, but 
thev were surrounded com- 
pletely and killed or cap- 
tured. 

Within a few weeks Gen- 
eral Lincoln renewed his 
efforts, and finally, in Sep- 
tember, Savannah was besieged, with the assistance 
of the French fleet under d'Estaing, which had 
returned from a scout in the West Indies. Through 
fear of storms, the French commander refused to 
stay long on this harborless coast, and early in Octo- 
ber it w'as decided that the city must be carried by 
assault or the sieoe be abandoned. The former 
course was agreed upon. So desperate was the 
advance that at one time success seemed assured, 
and the American flag actually was planted on the 
ramparts. All was in vain, however. In the end 
French and Americans were repulsed. 

This action is notable for the death of two 
heroes, Pulaski, a Polish nobleman who, like La- 
fayette, had come to fight for liberty; and brave 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



337 



Sergeant Jasper, whose bold deed on the walls of 
Fort Moultrie already has attracted our attention. 

During- the year thus brought to a close, the 
most notable achievement on land was the capture 
of Stony Point by " Mad Anthony" Wayne. 

So far little attention 
has been paid to the 
sea. Now we come to 
an American naval hero, 
Paul Jones, who won 
glory for the stars and 
stripes on the ocean. 
The tale is one of des- 
perate valor and will be i 

IIP • ''^■ 

told rrom generation to 

generation so long as 

men love brave acts and 

deeds of darino-. 

During the summer, Paul Jones secured in 

France an old merchant vessel and fitted her out as 

a man-of-war. He christened her the " Bon Homme 

Richard," taking the name from the famous almanac 

"Poor Richard," published by Benjamin Franklin. 

On the 22d of September, while boldly sailing off 

the east coast of Scotland in company with two 

French consorts, the " Alliance " and '' Pallas," he 

came in sight of a fleet of English merchantmen 




PAUL JONES. 



338 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

protected by the frigates '' Serapis "' of fifty guns, 
and " Countess of Scarborough " of twenty-two guns. 

The three ships were outclassed in every respect 
by the two English frigates. The crew of the 
Richard had been decreased in numbers by detach- 
ments sent to man the different prizes she had 
taken, and at this time Jones had on board almost 
as many prisoners as sailors. Still he never thought 
of trying to avoid a fight. America has been 
victorious on land and sea these many years because 
her sailors and soldiers never stop to count the odds. 

In the early evening, just as the full moon rose 
to light the awful scenes which were to follow, the 
"Richard " fired on the " Serapis." With the first 
discharge, two of the guns on the lower deck of 
the " Richard " burst with fearful effect, and that 
battery was rendered useless. Broadside after 
broadside was poured from the "' Serapis." Balls 
from her big eighteen pounders tore gaping holes 
in her opponents' hull. The contest was unequal, 
for the " Serapis " could outsail the " Richard " at 
every point. 

Then Jones forced his vessel against the enemy's 
and lashed them together. This saved him from 
defeat, for the '' Richard," Nvith her riddled hull, 
would have sunk. As Jones completed this manciHi- 
ver, the confident British commander cried out, 



KARLV AMETiTCAN TTIRTOEY 839 

" Have you struck ? " Then came from the iips of 
Paul Junes the historic answer : '" I have not yet 
begun to fight ! " 

So the combat was w^aged for hours. With 
muskets the men fired at each other from opposite 
decks, with cutlasses they fought hand to hand as 
the English attempted unsuccessfully to board the 
" Richard." Fire-balls were tossed from vessel to 
vessel. Presently a sailor, who had clind)ed out on 
the yard-arm of the " Richard," dropped a hand 
grenade down the open hatchway of the " Serapis." 
It landed in a line of cartridges which the powder 
boys had laid out along the floor. One by one, 
like a bunch of fire-crackers when a match is 
touched to the fuse, they exploded with terrific 
execution. 

Thus, bathed in the soft moonshine, rolling up 
and down on the ocean swells, wrapped in clouds 
of smoke pierced here and there by spurts of fire 
from small arms and cannon, lighting the heavens 
with a ruddy glare as now one ship, now the other, 
and at times both, broke into flame, fighting they 
drifted before the wind. So in deadly embrace two 
naked men, armed only with sharp knives, might 
writhe and wrestle on the ground, each stabbing 
the other but not able to protect himself. 

With hulls and decks, masts and rigging shattered 



•340 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

by shot and half consumed by fire, one ship must 
yiekl or both would sink. Jones would not surren- 
der, so the Englishman hauled down his flag. In 
the meantime the " Pallas " had taken the " Countess 
of Scarborough," and the " Alliance " had attempted 
to assist the " Richard," but in the confusion her fire 
was as damao-iiio; to the Americans as to the EnoHsh. 
Captain Jones transferred his men to the " Serapis " 
and made for the coast of Holland. The next day 
the " Bon Homme Richard " sank to the bottom. 

It was a great victory. Of the three hundred 
and seventy-five sailors serving on the '' Richard " 
three hundred were killed or wounded. How could 
England hope to conquer men who fought like 
that, and won? The moral effect of such an 
encounter was worth more than the capture of a 
dozen cities. While the final victory on land had 
not yet come, well might the patriots take courage 
and exclaim, as did Paul Jones, " We have not yet 
begun to fight ! " 



XXIV. 



BENEDICT ARNOLD, TRAITOR. 

In following the course 
of military operations, we 
have permitted ourselves 
to lose sight almost of the 
conditions of the country 
in otlier respects. Yet 
we must not presume that 
affairs throuofhout the 
land could come to a 
standstill awaiting peace. 
Those persons who were 
not in the army must 
carry on their business as nearly as possible as 
though there were no war. Soldiers must be paid 
the same as other men. For these purposes, there 
must be money, and as there was an insufficient 
amount of gold or silver. Congress, as is customary, 
had issued paper currency, or notes payable when 
the war should be over. 

In the case of a rich and mighty nation, such prom- 
ises, like those of a wealthy man, always are as good 

341 




BENEIMCT ARNOLD. 



342 PEARLY AxMEKICAN HISTORY 

as gold. Thus it was at first with the continental 
currency. In comparison with England, however, 
the colonies were weak and with few resources. As 
the war dragged along, people lost confidence and 
the paper money became almost worthless. When 
a soldier sent a month's pay home, his family could 
not buy enough for a good square meal, so whole 
regiments became discontented and mutinous. 

Conscienceless men who were in debt forced those 
whom they owed to take currency at its face value, 
when it was worth much less. Others were dis- 
reputable enough to speculate on the misfortunes of 
their country. One day they would spread reports 
of great colonial defeats. Then the currency would 
be worth little, for people would not believe the 
government could keep its promises to pay. Thus 
in exchange for a small quantity of goods these 
rascals would receive a large amount of paper 
money. In a few days they would circulate rumors 
of American victories. Then people would become 
confident, currency would increase in value, and the 
same men, in exchange for but a little money would 
buy back more goods than they had before. So by 
forcing" the value of currency up or down as best 
suited their ends, they enriched themselves but 
brought disaster to others. 

At the close of 1779, the country was in a ruin- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 343 

ous financial condition. Traitors at home were 
as hard to contend with as enemies from abioad, and 
Washington and Congress were having as much 
trouble from these causes as with the troops of 
George TIL It is well in following the different 
armies, to keep such facts continually in mind. 
Patriotism was by no means universal and our 
knowledo-e of these additional difficulties will in- 
crease our admiration at the victory finally achieved. 

The year 1780 opened with some encouragement 
for the Americans. During the preceding summer, 
Spain had declared war against England and this 
increased European sympathy for the colonial cause. 
Soon after the declaration a Spanish army marched 
from Louisiana, at this time a Spanish province, 
and captured the British forts on the borders along 
the lower Mississippi. While the movement did not 
directly affect operations on the Atlantic coast, the 
control, thus obtained, of the navigation of the 
river was of vast importance later in connection 
with negotiating the terms of the treaty of peace. 

In July, 1780, a French squadron with six 
thousand troops under the command of Count 
Rochambeau arrived at Newport. Their aid and 
co-operation were welcome indeed, and during the 
fall Washington conferred with Rochambeau re- 
garding future campaigns. 



344 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The activities of the year were confined chiefly 
to the south. In February a British fleet under 
Admiral Arbuthnot, and a land force under General 
Clinton, laid siege to Charleston. General Lincoln, 
with an army of fourteen hundred men, was occupy- 
ing the city and refused to surrender. A furious 
bombardment destroyed the fortifications, and in 
May, when Clinton was preparing to carry the 
place by assault, Lincoln capitulated. This gave 
the English possession of the principal city of the 
south and left South Carolina practically at their 
mercy. 

While Clinton might hold the conquered terri- 
tory, the measures he adopted were not of a nature 
to conciliate or subdue the inhabitants. One in- 
stance will show the barbarity of his methods. 
During the siege, five hundred militia marched 
from North Carolina to offer their assistance. The 
surrender occurred while they were on the way, 
and at once they retreated towards the north. 
Seven hundred British cavalry under Tarleton 
overtook them and massacred them almost to a 
man. This outrageous deed was praised by Corn- 
wallis. 

Li addition, the Carolinans were given their 
choice of serving in the English army against their 
fellow countrymen, or of being punished as traitors. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



345 




FRANCIS MARION. 



Many of them would 
have remained neutral 
had it been permitted, 
but when compelled to 
light, preferred to take 
up arms against the 
British rather than 
a g a i n s t their own 
people. 

Exasperated by the 
barbarity and severity 
of the British, the col- 
onists began to organize in small bands, to worry 
and harass them. In these movements there were 
two famous leaders : Thomas Sumter, the " Game- 
cock," and Francis Marion, the '' Swamp Fox." 

Sumter gathered together a few hundred active, 
audacious, hardy men, familiar with every path and 
trail throughout the country. At first he routed 
small parties of the English or attacked their out- 
posts when most unexpected. Later, when a full 
equipment of arms and ammunition had been ob- 
tained from the enemy, he did not hesitate to engage 
with larger numbers. At Rocky Mount he almost 
destroyed a detachment of British dragoons, and at 
Hanging Rock a whole regiment was cut to pieces 
by him. Soon the mere rumor of the coming of 



;346 EARLY AMERICAN inST(^RY 

Sumter would bring terror to the hearts of the 
English, and " Sumter's Raids " became famous 
over all the land. 

Marion was, if possible, even more bold and 
dashing. With a company of less than fifty boys 
and men, white and black, ragged, partly armed, 
and living on what they could pick up from day to 
day, he moved from place to place with such quick- 
ness that the British were in constant excitement. 
When they prepared to resist him at one point, he 
was spreading destruction miles away ; wdien they 
looked for him at night, nothing occurred to dis- 
turb them ; and when their fears vanished with the 
morning, suddenly he swept down upon them. 
During the summer and fall no British outpost 
slept in security, no detachment could march in 
safety. Through it all, not a single foul deed 
marred the record of either Sumter or Marion. 

In August, General Gates, who after the fail of 
Charleston succeeded Lee in command of the south- 
ern army, engaged the English under Cornwallis 
in a stubborn fight at Sanders Creek near Camden, 
South Carolina. The Americans were badly de- 
feated. A few days later, Sumter's forces were 
routed by Tarleton. Cornwallis advanced to Char- 
lotte, North Carolina, and the Americans retreated 
before him. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 3i7 

111 October a detachment of British sent into the 
western part of North CaroHna were captnred at 
King's Mountain, but aside from this, the EngHsh 
seemed to be havino- their own way in the south. 
The year closed with Georgia, North and South 
CaroHna in their control. 

The main event of the year, and one of the most 
important features of the whole war, was the 
attempted betrayal of West Point to the British. 
With the progress of the war attention has been 
called to various services rendered by Benedict 
Arnold — how he acted with Ethan Allen in the 
capture of Ticonderoga, through the ice and snow 
of winter led an army to Quebec, was wounded in 
a gallant assault on that city, fought desperately 
in the conflict on Lake Champlain, and recklessly 
encouraged the army in the battle of Bemis 
Heights. Now it is necessary to chronicle an act 
of villainy and treachery on his part, which has 
rendered him forever contemptible and infamous 
in the eyes of all honest men. 

At the best he must have been of weak char- 
acter ; avaricious, passionate, resentful, and devoid 
of moral principle. We are loath to believe that 
any one is wholly bad ; and the charitable view 
is to consider Arnold, up to this time, sincere and 
patriotic, so far as a base mind can entertain noble 



348 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

ideas. Still, there are those who, after a careful 
study of his life, conclude that from the first he was 
actuated by dishonorable motives only : working- 
for his own glory and gain, in the early days of 
the war ; quickly seeking means of revenge, when 
justly reproved for unpatriotic conduct ; and not in 
the least reluctant to betray his country, that he 
might accomplish this purpose and at the same time 
profit himself financially. Whether he yielded to 
temptation reluctantly or willingly, is known to 
Him alone who reads our inmost thoughts. 

While sufferino- from the wound received in the 
battle of Bemis Heights, Arnold was placed in 
command of the troops stationed in Philadelphia 
when Howe evacuated. Here he married the 
daughter of a prominent Tory, and entered upon 
a life of extravagance and luxury. In order to 
carry on his excesses, he speculated freely, lost 
heavily and became involved deeply in debt. His 
proud nature would not brook the incessant de- 
mands of his creditors and yet he haughtily refused 
to live more quietly and economically. 

Finally his disreputable habits and practices 
could be overlooked no longer. He was court- 
martialed, convicted, and rebuked by Washington 
in dignified though firm language. 

Very likely for some time Arnold's mind had 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 349 

been filled with treasonable thoughts. However 
this may be, smarting under the censure of the 
court-martial and the reprimand of his commander- 
in-chief, angered by the criticism instead of being 
filled with shame for his own evil conduct, he now 
formed the fixed purpose of aiding the English 
cause on the most profitable terms he coidd 
obtain. 

For months he could not conceive a satisfactory 
plan. During this time he opened up. correspond- 
ence with Major Andre, the British adjutant- 
general, and through him Clinton was kept advised 
of the movements and projects of the American 
forces. In his letters Arnold intimated that at 
the proper time he would perform some great ser- 
vice for the English, and for this he was promised 
a large sum of gold and a commission in the 
army. 

In July, 1780, Arnold was placed in command 
of West Point. After its capture by General 
Wayne, Washington had extensively fortified the 
place. It was one of the most important points in 
possession of the Americans, for it protected the 
navigation of the Hudson River and also communi- 
cation between the colonies of the north and south. 
At this time it was garrisoned by an army of three 
thousand men and within its walls were collected 



350 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

a considerable amount of ammunition, jnovisions, 
and supplies of every kind. Arnold planned to 
deliver the fort, the garrison, and the stores into 
the hands of the British. If he had been success- 
ful, the American cause would have received a most 
severe blow. 

For weeks Arnold, through messages, discussed 
the project wuth Andre and General Clinton. The 
plan was for the British to attack at a time 
when Arnold would have the garrison scattered, 
and when the fort could be surrendered without 
resistance. To arrange the details was not so 
simple a matter. A personal interview was neces- 
sary, and Arnold proposed several methods by 
which Andre might visit him ; but with his custom- 
ary selfishness made each arrangement so that he 
himself would be protected as far as possible. 
Andre, on his part, had no desire to risk his neck 
as a spy, and refused to enter the American lines. 

So matters dragged along till the latter part of 
September. Then Washington's absence from 
West Point made the time seem favorable for 
carrying out the scheme. Haste was required 
because at any moment some change in the plans 
of the Americans might render the attempted 
treachery absolutely out of the question. 

On September 21 the British sloop " Vidture " 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



351 



ascended the Hudson and anchored a few miles 
below West Point. At midnight Andre, in a small 
boat, was rowed ashore and met Arnold on the river- 
bank. There mid the darkness of the night they 
plotted. Dawn came upon them with their work 



^fTtOMSflTUTIOK 




HUDSON RIVEi;. PHOWINa SfENE OF ANDRK'S CAPTCRE. 

still uncompleted, and somewhat unwillingly Andre 
was persuaded to go with Arnold through the 
American lines to a neishborinof house. Here the 
conference continued until noon. Then Arnold 



352 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

retired to liis headquarters on the other side of the 
river opposite West Point, leaving Andre a pass in 
tlie name of John Anderson, and a eoniplete de- 
scription of West Point, its fortifications and 
garrison. 

Andre found himself in a very unpleasant posi- 
tion. Owino- to a severe cannonade directed asrainst 
her, the " Vulture " had been compelled to drop 
down the river. All he could do was to make his 
way towards New York by land. Up to this time 
he had been clad in his British uniform ; now he 
donned a citizen's suit, and crossing the river in 
a skiff, began his perilous journey south. He 
relied on his pass to enable him to evade the 
American sentinels. In one of his boots he con- 
cealed the documents given him by Arnold. At 
the first outpost he was halted and closely cpies- 
tioned. The pass from General Arnold quickly 
removed any suspicions, and at the suggestion of 
the captain in charge he passed the night there. 

With the break of day, Andre again set out 
upon his journey. Every moment brought him 
nearer and nearer the English lines and safety. 
His spirits rose, joy took the place of fear, and 
almost gaily he trotted his horse along the road. 
Doubtless he already saw West Point occupied by 
the British, and the Americans astounded at the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 353 

calamity ; and he thought of the honor and reward 
to be meted out to him for his great service to 
his king. 

If thus he dreamed, rude Avas the awakening. 
Suddenly three men sprang from the roadside and 
grasped his horse's bridle. A moment ago, fame 
and happiness lay just within his reach. Now he 
stands face to face with death by hanging — the 
fate accorded by the law of nations to every 
captured spy. 

Still all might have gone well, had Andre simply 
produced his pass. Instead, he asked his captors 
if they belonged to the " lower party," meaning the 
loyalists. This was a grave mistake. On such 
seeming trifles hangs the fate of men and nations. 
Assured by them that they were of the party men- 
tioned, he declared himself a British officer on 
important business. When he was roughly ordered 
to dismount he realized his blunder and showed his 
pass. Too late ! A search of his person disclosed 
the documents in his boots, and indignantly scorn- 
ing all offers of bribes, the men who had taken him 
sent him a prisoner to the nearest post. 

Here another error was made. The commander. 
Lieutenant-colonel Jamison, was so astonished at 
the contents of the papers turned over to him 
that he lost his presence of mind. He sent the 



354 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

documents by special messenger to Washington, 
but at the same time forwarded a note to 
Arnold, telling him what had taken place. This 
reached Arnold while he was at breakfast with 
his family. Hastily bidding his wife good-bye, and 
lea vino- her faintin"- on the floor from the effect 
of his terrible disclosure, he galloped to the river 
and in a boat reached the " Vulture," which again 
had worked uj) stream. 

Thus Arnold avoided the veno-eance of his 
countrymen. He received tiie promised gold, and 
later we shall find him servino- in the war as a 
British officer. But from the bitterness of his own 
thoughts and the knowledge of his own perfidy, 
he never could escape. 

At first he bore himself with an air of reckless 
bravado ; but soon he found himself despised and 
distrusted by all honorable men. Degraded he 
lived, deserted and lonely he died ; meanwhile the 
country he sought to betray became free and pros- 
perous, and his brother officers won deathless glory 
in which he could not share. Doubtless the punish- 
ment of his conscience was more severe than any 
which man could have devised. 

Shortly after Arnold's flight, Washington arrived. 
When the news was made known to him, great 
must have been his alarm ; but not for a moment 



EARLY AMEIUCAN HISTORY 3a5 

did his self-possession leave him. One cry only, to 
his dear friend Lafayette, " Whom can we now 
trust?" unveiled the anguish of his soul. Then 
calmly and quietly plans were made and orders 
given to frustrate any attack General Clinton still 
might contemplate. There was no way of telling 
the extent of the conspiracy, and a smaller man 
would have looked with distrust on every officer. 
Washington extended to all the same cordiality and 
confidence as before, thus showing the breadth of 
his character and the strength of his nature. 

Eight days later Andre met his death on the 
scaifold. In a letter to Washington, written 
immediately after his arrest, he argued that he 
entered the American lines in uniform, and unwill- 
ingly and through force of circumstances was 
compelled to put on citizen's clothes. It was of 
no avail ; and rightly so. In disguise he traveled 
in American territory, and in disguise tried to pass 
American sentinels, with important information con- 
cealed on his person. As a spy he had acted, as 
a spy he was captured, and as a spy he must 
die. 

General Clinton blustered and threatened, but to 
no purpose. Washington would have exchanged 
him for Arnold, but the British would not play 
false to even a traitor. Andre begged for a 



H5(i EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

soldier's death by shooting-, but this whs denier] 
him, for the rules of war are stern and inexorable. 
Aside from this, every possible favor and courtesy 
were extended to him. The consolation of a Bible 
and a minister freely were offered, and his letters 
to General Clinton regarding- his personal affairs 
were forwarded carefully. 

The memory of the brutal treatment of Nathan 
Hale was yet fresh in the minds of the Americans, 
but Andre's death was decreed by justness, not by 
revenge ; and he met his fate boldly, as a brave 
soldier should. 

The fate of Andre has called forth many expres- 
sions of sorrow. Sad it is to see any man cut down 
in the prime of his life, while serving his country 
in whatsoever way to him seems best, and to every- 
one death by hanging is most abhorrent. To this 
extent, and no more, is he entitled to our sym- 
pathy. While our hearts may soften towards him, 
we must not forget that he was not the victim of 
circumstances. 

When dawn approached, as he was consulting 
with Arnold on the river-bank, he could have re- 
turned to the "Vulture." When Arnold left him 
at noon, and the "Vulture" could not be reached, 
he might have abandoned his mission and given 
himself up as an honorable prisoner of war. In- 



EARLY AMKKICAN HISTORY 857 

stead, he assumed the disguise of a spy, though as 
a soldier he well knew the penalty if taken. To 
mercy he had no claim, and justice he received. 
For our hero, let us turn to him who gladly met 
a similar death in an effort to save the day when 
the colonial cause seemed desperate — to Nathan 
Hale, whose only regret was that he had but one 
life to lose for his country. 

SONG OF MARION'S MEN. 

Our l)aml is few, but true and tried, 

Our leader frank and Itold ; 
The British soklier trendjies 

When Marion's name is told. 
Our fortress is the good greenwood, 

Our tent the cypress-tree ; 
We know tiie forest round us, 

As seamen know the sea; 
We know its walls of thorny vines, 

Its glades of reedy grass, 
Its safe and silent islands 

Within the dark morass. 

AVoe to the English soldiery 

That little dread us near! 
On them shall light at midniglit 

A strange and sudden fear; 
AVhen, waking to their tents on lire. 

They grasp their arms in vain, 



358 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

And they who stand to face us 

Are beat to earth again ; 
And they who fly in terror deeui 

A mighty host behind, 
And hear the tramp of thousands 

Upon the hollow wind. 

Then sweet the hour that brings release 

P'rom danger and from toil ; 
We talk the battle over, 

And share the battle's spoil. 
The woodland rings with laugh and shout. 

As if a hunt were up, 
And woodland flowers are gathered 

To crown the scjldier's cup. 
With merry songs we mock the wind 

That in the pine-top grieves. 
And slumlier long and sweetly 

On beds of oaken leaves. 

Well knows the fair and friendly moon 

The band that Marion leads, — 
The glitter of their rifles. 

The scampering of their steeds. 
'Tis life to guide the fiery barb 

Across the moonlit plain ; 
'Tis life to feel the night-wind 

That lifts his tossing mane. 
A moment in the British camp — 

A incmient — and awaj' 
Back to the pathless forest, 

Before tlie peep of day. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 359 

Grave men there are by broad Santee, 

Grave men with hoary hairs ; 
Their hearts are all Avith Marion, 

For Marion are their prayers. 
And lovely ladies greet our band 

With kindliest welcoming, 
With smiles like those of summer, 

And tears like those of spring. 
For them we wear these trusty arms, 

And lay them down no more 
Till we have driven the Briton 

Forever from our shore. 

— Wtlliam Gullen Brya)it. 



XXV. 
THE BUFF AND BLUE TRIUMPHANT. 

During December, 1780, war was declared 
between Great Britain and Holland. The folly 
of Georoe HI. now had involved him in hostilities 
with three European countries as well as with the 
colonies. Nevertheless, the prospect for the Ameri- 
can cause at the opening of the year 1781 could 
not be considered very bright. As we have seen, 
the English held possession in the south ; in the 
north they continued to occupy New York, from 
which it would be difficult to dislodofe them. The 
financial condition of the country had gone from 
bad to worse. There was no money for the army, 
and everywhere the soldiers were suffering from 
lack of food and clothing. 

In January the whole Pennsylvania line, consist- 
ing of fifteen hundred men, mutinied and started 
for their homes. How to deal with them was a 
delicate question. They were entitled to sympathy 
and forbearance, because Congress had been negli- 
gent in failing to make provision for them, and 
their physical suffering had been great. They still 

360 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 801 

were patriotic, for when Clinton sent men to them 
offering" aid and comfort if they would come over 
to his side, the messengers promptly Avere turned 
over to the American officers to he tried as spies. 
The difficulty was settled finally hy taking steps to 
supply their pressing needs. 

A New Jersey hrigade, which entered upon a 
more violent revolt, was quelled hy sterner measures 
and two of its leaders were hanged. On the whole, 
the disturbances had a g-ood effect because Congress 
and the colonies now realized that even a patriot 
could not reasonably be expected to fight for his 
country, while cold and hungry through the slow 
action of those at home whose duty it was to pro- 
vide for him. 

On the part of the English, the activities of the 
year commenced with a raid through Virginia by 
troops under Benedict Arnold, now a Brigadier- 
General in the British army. The object was to 
pillage and plunder the colony, and for this pur- 
pose Arnold was eminently fitted. No longer is he 
the bold and skilful oeneral who fought for free- 
dom. At times there seems to be a touch of his 
old spirit, but it is mere show. Fear has taken the 
place of courage, and his desire is not an honorable 
victory, but to satisfy that hatred and longing for 
revenge aroused by the failure of his despicable 



862 EARLY AMKHICAN HISTORY 

plans. His fate, if captured, well he knows. In- 
flamed with passion and trembling- with fear, laying- 
waste with tire and sword the couiitrv Avhich once 
exalted him, and which once he fought to save, he 
is a figure upon which the mind does not like to 
dwell. 

Lafayette was sent to Virginia to act against 
Arnold and if possible to capture him, l)ut in this 
he was not successful, owing in part to the inability 
of the French fleet to co-operate. In April General 
Phillips, with a force of British regulars, joined 
Arnold and took command. In a few weeks he 
died, and again Arnold was in supreme control. 
On May 20 Cornwallis himself arrived, and Arnold 
was sent back to New^ York. 

In the latter part of 1780, General Greene 
succeeded Gates at the head of the American 
forces in the south, with headquarters at Charlotte, 
North Carolina. He was an officer of great energy 
and ability. The troops were so demoralized by 
numerous defeats and lack of money and supplies 
that his services were needed badly. He immedi- 
ately re-organized the ranny in two divisions, 
himself taking charge of one, and assigning the 
other to General Morgan. Earh' in January 
Morgan was dispatched into South Carolina to 
further American interests in every way possible, 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 303 

and in haste General Cornwallis detailed Colonel 
Tarleton with his famous cavalry to capture or 
disperse Morgan's forces. 

On the 17th of January these armies met in the 
decisive battle of Cowpens. The field of action was 
chosen by General Morgan, and he arranged his 
forces with much skill. On a slightly rising- piece 
of ground were placed the regulars and veteran 
militia. One hundred and fifty yards in front of 
them were stationed three hundred raw militia, with 
skirmishers thrown out still farther in advance. 
Behind the regulars, the cavalry of Colonel William 
Washington rested as a reserve. In this way, on 
Tarleton's approach, the skirmishers could fire and 
gradually fall back to the line of militia. The 
militia in turn could fire, and hold their place as 
long as possible ; then, retreating, could fall in 
with the rejiulars and continue the conflict if 
Tarleton still should advance. 

If the militia should become panic stricken and 
flee, the regulars were behind to receive and steady 
them, while Washington's cavalry was ready as 
a reserve to attack or support where most needed, 
as the combat developed. In all, about eight 
hundred men composed the colonial detachment. 

Early in the morning Tarleton's force of one 
thousand veteran soldiers confidently advanced. 



364 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

As they drew near, the skirmishers, retreating from 
tree to tree, opened a rapid and deadly fire, empty- 
ing many a saddle. The militia, too, fought man- 
fully, sending volley after volley into the British 
ranks and falling back only at the point of bayonet 
and sabre. Then the regulars took up the battle, 
and Tarleton, calling his reserves, fell upon them 
with great fury. 

Now a change of position on the part of the 
Americans seemed advisable, and the order was 
oiven to wheel to the ri<>ht. Misunderstandino^ 
the command, they turned and marched to the 
rear, though calmly and in perfect order. Tarleton 
accepted this as a retreat, and already feeling 
assured of victory, pushed forward in pursuit. 

Here Colonel Washington, waiting with the re- 
serve American cavalry, saw his opportunity. With 
a mad rush his riders swooped down on the unsus- 
pecting British, and with such impetuosity that 
they burst clear through the line. Wheeling about, 
they charged them again from the rear. At this 
point, the regulars turned around, and commenced 
a severe fire from the opposite direction. Thus 
hemmed in on both sides, Tarleton's famous cavalry 
threw away their arms and begged for quarter. 

The victory was absolute. Tarleton himself, 
with a few companions, escaped, but one hundred 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 3fi5 

■of his men were slain and six hundred taken 
prisoner. These were the British troops who had 
spread devastation throughout the south, and had 
butchered sokliers and colonists without mercy. 
Now when they themselves begged for quarter, in 
every case it was granted. Even in the heat of 
battle and the flush of victory, the patriots refrained 
from the foul deeds which stain the record of their 
adversaries. 

Great as was this victory, the Americans were not 
in a position to press the advantage. Cornwallis 
was but thirty miles distant and hastened to avenge 
the defeat. The only course open to the victors 
was a retreat to the north. Greene joined Morgan 
in order to conduct this in jDerson. In ten days the 
Americans reached the Catawba River, and late in 
the afternoon safely crossed it, with their prisoners 
and baggage. At sunset Cornwallis arrived on the 
the southern bank. He waited for morning before 
passing over to attack, but during the night a 
severe storm came on and the river rose till it 
was unfordable. 

When the water had subsided, the British aofain 
started after Morgan's army, now falling back 
towards the Yadkin River. So close was the pur- 
suit that on the bank of this stream Morgan's rear 
guard was assailed, and some of his wagons were 



366 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

taken. Once more a storm delayed Cornwallis, and 
though he did not give up the chase, the Americans 
managed to keep ahead and finally crossed the 
Dan into Virginia. Here Cornwallis, disgusted, 
abandoned the effort. Too much credit cannot be 
given General Greene for the masterly retreat. 

In the latter part of February Greene, with his 
army re-inforced and recuperated, re-crossed the 
Dan into North Carolina. On March 15, at Guil- 
ford Court House, he engaged with Cornwallis and 
through the bad behavior of his militia was forced 
to retire, although the British loss was the larger. 

After this battle, Cornwallis returned to Virginia, 
leaving the forces in the Carolinas under Lord 
Rawdon, at Camden, South Carolina. Into this 
state Greene advanced, and on April 25, a battle 
took place at Hobkirk's Hill. Again Greene was 
forced to withdraw from the field, but the British 
had no grounds to claim a decisive victory. 

During the next few months Rawdon abandoned 
numerous jiosts in South Carolina, and finally gave 
over his command to Colonel Stuart. On August 
22, Greene engaged Stuart in a fierce battle at 
Eutaw Springs. At first, victory was with the 
Americans ; but in the end Greene was forced to 
yield the struggle. The next day, however, Stuart 
retreated and eventually was driven into Charleston. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 307 

In North Carolina, meanwhile, the Americans 
had been successful ; and now the only English 
posts in the Carolinas and Georgia were Charleston 
and Savannah. 

To a casual reader such a brief account of 
Greene's campaign will not do this general full 
justice. His ability and force are responsible for 
that weakening; of English control in the south 
which marked the beofinnino- of the end. After 
the victory at Cowpens his masterly retreat saved 
his army from capture or destruction ; though com- 
pelled for the moment to fall back at Guilford Court 
House, the British far from obtained a definite 
victory, and to them this was the same as a defeat. 
At Eutaw Springs, too, he may not apparently 
have been the winner, but the next day the British 
retired, and he followed them till after two months 
they took refuge in Charleston. Deservedly he 
holds high rank among the bravest and the best 
of the generals of the Revolution. 

The scene of action now ciianges to Virginia, 
but before tracnig the course of events there, let us 
take a final look at Benedict Arnold. When by 
Cornwallis he was sent from Virginia to New York, 
Clinton gave him command of another detachment, 
with which he proceeded to the mouth of the 
Thames River, in his native state, Connecticut 



368 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Here, on the west bank, stood the village of New 
London, protected by a small fortification called 
Fort Trumbull ; and on the east bank was Groton, 
with Fort Griswold near by. This was the locality 
where Arnold had spent his childhood, for he was 
bom at Norwich but a few miles distant. Now it 
was to be the scene of his most blood-thirsty deeds. 

In two divisions the English troops advanced up 
the banks of the river, against the two villages and 
forts. The column which attacked Griswold con- 
tained seven hundred men. The garrison, under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Ledyard, numbered only one 
hundred and forty. Nevertheless, the post was not 
surrendered till after as stubborn a resistance as 
could be made against such overwhelming odds. 

When it could be seen that further contest was 
useless, Ledyard ordered his men to throw down 
their arms and he himself handed his sword to the 
British commander. The next instant it was thrust 
through his breast, and he fell dead on the ground. 
Then the massacre was continued till over eighty 
of the garrison had been killed after they had sur- 
rendered. Additional atrocities were perpetrated 
asrainst the wounded and the bodies of the slain. 
The barbarities practiced by the English on that 
day would bring a blush to the swarthy cheek of 
a savage Lidian. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 369 

In the meantime, on the other bank of the river, 
Arnold had been ravaging among the homes of his 
old friends and neighbors. A few honses were 
spared by his orders, but the devastation was 
ofeneral and to such an extent that even Clinton 
expressed his regrets. The wharves, vessels, stores, 
public buildings, and churches were burned and the 
flames carried destruction throuohout the entire 
town. So low had Arnold sunk that the entreaties 
of former playmates and companions, and the sacred 
associations of innocent childhood appealed to him 
in vain. Here in the depth of his infamy we leave 
him, for he has no subsequent connection with the 
history of our country. 

During all these months Clinton, with his army^ 
has remained in New York, closely watched by the 
Americans under Washington and the French under 
Rochambeau. An English fleet has been lying in 
New York harbor and a French flotilla at Newport 
News, Virginia. 

In April, Cornwallis had taken command of the 
English army in Virginia and had ravaged the 
colony. He had been dogged by an American 
force under Lafayette, ever watchful and wary, but 
who was not in a position to risk an engagement. 
Early in July, Cornwallis, perhaps against his own 
best judgment, but under orders from Clinton, 



370 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

stationed his forces in Yoiktown, a few miles from 
where the York River empties into Chesapeake Bay. 
The object was to have him where he could move 
to support Clinton, who greatly feared a combined 
attack by Rochambeau and Washington. 

At once the Americans took a position a few 
miles from Cornwallis. Each day a powerful 
French fleet was expected from the West Indies. 
Lafayette saw that with the French ships in Chesa- 
peake Bay, and his own forces surrounding York- 
town by land and reinfoi'ced if necessary by the 
troops under Washington, Cornwallis and his entire 
army could be captured. 

July and August were anxious months for both 
Lafayette and Washington. The latter kept 
Clinton constantly excited and alarmed by causing 
false dispatches to fall into his hands, indicating 
that a vio'orous sieij^e of New York soon would be 
undertaken. During the latter part of August, 
Washington suddenly broke camp and marched 
with his entire army to Yorktown. On August 30 
the French fleet entered Chesapeake Bay, and about 
the same time the flotilla arrived from Newport 
News. Within a few days the English fleet from 
New York attacked the French ships, but were 
driven off and returned whence they came. 

So in September the Americans and French sur- 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 3?1 

rounded Yorktown by land and sea. The siege com- 
menced, and the days of Cornwallis were numbered. 

It was on September 30, 1781, that the allied 
forces fully invested Yorktown. The siege was 
brief and was pushed with the utmost possible dis- 
patch. On the night of October 6, in rain and 
darkness, six hundred yards from the British works, 
the first line of trenches was duof. When dis- 
covered in the morning, they were deep enough to 
afford protection. Within three days the batteries 
were completely mounted and from that moment 
till hostilities ceased a constant stream of shot and 
shell was poured into the city. 

Then, but two hundred yards from the British, 
a second line of trenches was commenced. Two 
British outposts, which by their fire were annoying 
the men at their work, were carried by assault ; one 
position by the French, and one by the Americans, 
and with the utmost gallantry. 

So by day and by night the colonial forces drew 
nearer and nearer the doomed city; by day and l)v 
night cannon and mortars I'oared and flashed, while 
balls and shells dismounted the artillery of the 
English, battered down the fortifications, and 
shattered houses and buildings. Cornwallis quickly 
realized his desperate straits. The attacking forces 
exceeded his almost two to one. Two thousand of 



372 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

his men were fit only for the hospital. Still he held 
out, for messages came from New York promising 
assistance. On the 5th Clinton was to sail with 
five thousand men ; again on the 12th ; hut he 
never came. He actually started on the 19th. 
Then it was too late. 

By the 15th the condition of Cornwallis was 
such that he deemed it unadvisable for Clinton to 
run much risk in attempting to rescue him. He 
had decided to trust to his own efforts. On the 
16th a desperate sortie was made, but little was 
accomplished. The same night he planned to cross 
the bay to Gloucester, and by forced marches essay 
to reach New York, but a storm prevented. York- 
town had become absolutely uninhabitable, while 
escape was cut off by land or by sea. 

So on the 17th Cornwallis, the titled and haughty 
British general, sent to Washington an offer to 
surrender, and on the 19th the exact terms were 
agreed upon. 

It was a proud day for the allied armies when, 
drawn up facing each other in parallel lines, they 
waited for the arroofant red coats to march forth 
and formally to yield. In heat and cold, through 
dust and mud and snow, ragged, starving, lacking 
arms and ammunition, inexperienced, undisciplined, 
and outnumbered, for years these very men in the 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 373 

buff and blue wearily had marched to and fro, up 
and down, fighting only to be defeated, or winning 
a victory only to be forced immediately to seek 
safety in flight. Through all the gloomy months 
and years, confidently and patiently they had 
waited for victory. Now, as the hour of their 
triumph drew near, we can imagine how each 
tattered, careworn patriot stiffened proudly in his 
place, musket steady, head erect, eyes straight to 
the front, as becomes a soldier tried and true, with 
only flashing eye and throbbing heart to betray in 
part the excitement all must feel. 

At length, forth from Yorktown come the British 
troops, still outwardly insolent and disdainful, but 
in vain striving to conceal their bitter humiliation. 
Their colors are not flying, for that honor had been 
denied to General Lincoln when he surrendered 
Charleston. Between the French and American 
lines they march, their arms are cast in a pile on 
the ground, and away they go under guard as 
prisoners of war. Cornwaliis, sick with mortifica- 
tion and chagrin, skulks in his tent. In his place, 
Major-General O'Hara tenders his sword, which is 
received by General Lincoln, detailed for this pur- 
pose by Washington. 

Seven thousand soldiers and eight hundred 
sailors laid down their arms and other equipments. 



374 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and one hundred cannon also came into the posses- 
sion of the allies. What wonder that England gave 
up hope when she received tidings of this disaster. 

On the 23d the news of the victory reached 
Philadelphia, where Congress was in session. Tears 
as well as smiles attested the joy which filled every 
loyal heart, and assembling in the various churches 
the people gave thanks to God for the victory 
which seemed about to deliver them from the hands 
of their enemies. Towards Washington all eyes 
were turned in love and veneration. His services, 
through the hours of darkness and despair, as well as 
in the victory just won, now were fully appreciated. 

One touching incident shows the depth of the 
sentiment which swayed each soul. An aged 
patriot approached the commander-in-chief, and 
after gazing- in silence for several moments, raised 
his hands to heaven and cried aloud: "Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation." Thus felt our fore- 
fathers. They fought, not for themselves, but for 
future generations ; and now that peace seemed 
near at hand they were willing to die in God's good 
time, thankful that through the perils and suffer- 
ings of war they had been spared to see the dawn 
of this glorious day, and satisfied in that they had 
secured for their descendants the blessing- of liberty. 



XXVI. 
INDEPENDENCE. 

With the surrender of Cornwalhs, the war of the 
Revolution practically ended. Washington immedi- 
ately proceeded to the vicinity of New York and kept 
close guard over General Clinton, but there were 
no more hostilities. In May, Clinton was succeeded 
by Sir Guy Carleton, and even warlike preparations 
ceased. November 30, 1782, provisional articles of 
peace were signed, and on November 3, 1783, in 
Paris the representatives of the United States, 
Holland, Spain, France and England signed a 
formal treaty of peace. Then the colonies became 
in fact a free and independent nation, covering the 
territory from the Mississippi to the Atlantic and 
from the Great Lakes to Florida. 

Here reluctantly we must close this volume. 
To recount the story of the exertions of the early 
voyagers and explorers, the privations endured by 
the first settlers, and the contests of the colonies 
with the Indians, the French, and finally with 
England, has been for us such a delightful task 
that we long at once to follow with you the farther 

375 



376 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

history of this young republic, now standing, 
expectant, on the threshold of national life. Per- 
haps, in the days to come, in other books we may 
have this pleasure. Meanwhile, we hope that you 
will not be content with the few facts these pages 
contain, or with the brief period we have been able 
partially to cover. 

When, in the flush of early manhood, a youth 
leaves his native town, to take his place, a man 
among men, in the outside world, those who have 
known him from babyhood are not forgetful of his 
past nor unmindful of his future. In the postoffice, 
the store, and at home around the evening lamp, 
relatives and friends talk of his deeds and sayings 
as a boy, and every letter or paper eagerly is 
scanned for news of what he is doing as a man. So 
we trust that you may feel an intense interest in 
this young republic, now ready to assume a position 
among the nations of the world ; that you will read 
and talk among yourselves of what has been endured 
and accomplished during these early years ; and 
that you will not fail to pursue farther the course of 
the United States, throjigh reverses and success, 
through adversity and prosperity, through war and 
peace, and into the present glorious century. 

From even this little volume we can learn many 
lessons. The successful soldiers and statesman of 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 377 

the Revolution were men who made the most of 
then- opportunities while boys. Had Benjamin 
Franklin neglected to train and educate himself in 
his early years, he might have been working in a 
soap factory instead of upholding the honor of his 
country as an ambassador to the French court, and 
his fingers might have been employed in moulding- 
tallow candles, instead of affixinof his sisfnature to 
the immortal Declaration of Independence. 

If in his youth Patrick Henry had yielded him- 
self to evil habits, his voice might have been heard 
in only the ribald songs of the tavern, instead of 
arousing patriotism by thundering defiance to the 
tyranny of George III. Fame may not come to 
all who wait, but it seldom comes to one who is 
unprepared. 

Those who at any time gave way to temptation, 
lessened or entirely lost the honor already won. 
The renown of General Gates, so honestly gained in 
the victory over Burgoyne, is dimmed by even the 
suspicion that later he was not true to his com- 
mander-in-chief. Lee was a general of exceptional 
ability, but he is known chiefly as the man whose 
obstinacy nearly brought defeat at the battle of 
Monmouth, and whose perversity aroused the just 
anger of that Washington who should have had his 
love and obedience. 



37H EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Benedict Arnold, by succumbing- to the grossness of 
his nature, fell to such a depth of degradation, that 
everything he did during the years he fought for 
liberty is ascribed to the basest of motives. To end 
well, one not only should start right, but stick to 
the right. 

Fame and fortune came to men who did their 
duty regardless of danger, or even death. Had 
Washington, on the day of Braddock's defeat, 
been stricken with fear, and had he hesitated 
to ride from point to point, as his position as an 
officer demanded, his soldiers would have marked 
him as a coward, and his career then would have 
ended. If he had leaped to the ground and 
lowered the flag after he rode between the lines 
at Princeton, a bullet might have found his heart. 
Sitting erect, as a commander should, he was 
spared. 

And this thought is not complete withont refer- 
ence to the men who acted with equal bravery, but 
whom death claimed. Wolfe, who fell at Quebec, 
and Warren, who gave up his life at Bunker Hill, 
are not less honored nor less remembered, nor did 
thev achieve less true success, than if they had been 
saved for many years. 

Perhaps the greatest lesson of all is to be gained 
by turning our attention to the countless heroes, 



k"TV AMERICAN HISTORY 379 

I 

mied, who toiled and suffered at 
..uiiie, or fo _iit and died in the field. The men 
who in the dead of winter huilt on the bleak New 
England coast a place of abode for the friends 
of liberty, and o'er whoge graves corn was sowed 
in the early springtime, that the green blades might 
conceal from the Indians the weakness of the 
little colony, lived as useful a life and met as 
honorable a death as any general who ever strove 
and bled in battle. The naked, starving, feverish 
forms that rolled and tossed on the frozen ground 
at Valley Forge, are as worthy of admiration as any 
soldier whose dying moments were cheered I)y 
shouts of glorious victorv. 

Nor should we forget those noble and patient 
women who at home wearily toiled during the long 
hours of the day, and quietly prayed through the 
silent watches of the night. Never a battle, but 
some mother's heart was torn in anguish ; never a 
skirmish, but some sister's head was bowed in 
sorrow. Yet, mourning in secret for the dead, 
their lips uttered no complaint, and ever spoke 
words of encourao'ement to the living'. The 
example of these peerless men and women should 
teach us that true success is for all who patiently, 
uncomplainingly, and bravely follow each day the 
path of duty, however humble ; and that such a life 



380 EARLY AMERICAN RT' ' 

is open to every one of us, thoii^ ii. .ri\ 

be unheralded by fame. 

These pages have been filled with tales of fight- 
ing and bloodshed. In closing, let us turn our 
minds to thoughts of peace. History too often 
emphasizes only the splendor of battle. Beneath 
the tinsel, the trappings, and the glittering panoply 
of war, are horror, privation, and anguish unspeak- 
able. No one realizes this more than did our fore- 
fathers. They fought from compulsion, not for 
enjoyment, and that they might leave to us, their 
descendants, the boon of liberty and the blessing 
of peace. 

No American, who keeps the picture of our 
illustrious past fresh in his mind, ever can be a 
coward. Because we prefer the hum of the factory 
to the roar of cannon, and the rattle of the reaper to 
the crash of rifles, we need none the less be prepared 
to maintain our supremacy on land and sea in the 
hour of necessity and for a cause which is just. If 
slow to anger, our wrath but the more will be feared. 

So, honorably, we may hope that the days of war 
are gone forever. May the time never come again 
when the apples are torn from the orchard trees by 
screaming shells instead of laughing children, and 
the peaceful droning of the happy bee is lost in the 
groans of the dying. 



iEARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 381 



AMERICA. 



My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing ; 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the Pilgrims' pride, 
From ever}' mountain-side 

Let Freedom ring. 

My native country, thee. 
Land of the noble free. 

Thy name I love ; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills ; 
My heart with rapture thrills 

Like that above. 

Let music swell the breeze, 
And ring from all the trees 

Sweet Freedom's song ; 
Let mortal tongues awake. 
Let all that breathe partake, 
Let rocks their silence break, 

The sound prolong. 

Our P^ither's God, to thee, 
Author of liberty. 

To thee we sing ; 
Long may our land be bright 
With Freedom's hoi}" light; 
Protect us by thy might, 

Great God, our King. 

— Samuel Francis Smith. 



INDEX. 

Acadia, 230; conquest and removal of people, 2o0-2o6. 

Abex'cronibie, General, 237. 

Abraham, Heights of, 243, 245, 281. 

Adams, John, 247, 250, 295, 296. 

Alaska, 29, 30. 

Allen, Ethan, 279. 

Alliance, The, 337. 

America, How named, 45. 

Andre, Major, 302; plots with Arnold, 349-353; capture, 353; 
hung, 355 ; remarks, 356-357. 

Arbuthnot, Admiral, 344. 

Arnold, Benedict, at Fort Ticondei'oga, 281; attack of Quebec, 
281-283; battle on Lake Champlain, 300, 301; defeats St. 
Leger, 316; at battle of Bemis Heights, 317; character, 
347-348; rebuked b}^ Washington, 348; plots Avitli Andre, 
349-353; escapes, 354; British Brigadier, 361 ; raid in Vir- 
ginia, 361; ravages on the Thames, 367-369; lesson from 
life of, 378. 

Aristotle, 17. 

Ashe, 336. 

Asia, reached around Africa, IS; by sailing west, 18; present 
trade with, 20; America populated from 29-30; Columbus 
thought he had discovered, 45; Magellan's object, 51-53; 
Hudson's object, 147, 151 ; La Salle's object, 201. 

Atlantis, 30. 

Bahamas, sighted by Columbus, 21. 

Balboa, 45, 51, 59. 

Baltimore, Lord, 181-182. 

Baum, Colonel, 315. 

Bemis Heights, battle of, 318. 

Bennington, battle of, 315. 

Berkeley, Lord, 180. 

383 



384 INDEX 

Bloody Marsh, battle of. 176. 

Bon Homme Richard, The, 337-340. 

Boston, founded, 115; massacre, first blood of Revolution, 259, 

288; British evacuate, 289. 
Boston Port Bill, 260. 
Boston Tea Party, 260. 
Braddock, General, sails from England, 221 ; expedition against 

Fort Duquesne, 222; defeat of, 22.5-228; character, 227-228; 

death and burial, 227. 
Brandywine, battle of, 318. 

Breed's Hill, 273, 278. 288, 289 (see Bunker Hill). 
Bunker Hill, battle of, 229, 272-278. 
Burgoyne, General, 272, 314, 316, 317, 318, 322. 
Butler, Major John, 331. 
Cabot, John, 47, 214. 
Cabot, Sebastian, 47, 214. 
Calvert, Sir George, 181. 
Carleton, Sir Guy, 300-301, 313, 314. 375. 
Carolinas, how named, 80, 182; outline, 182-184. 
Carteret, Sir George, 180. 
Carthagena, 55-57. 
Cartier, 46, 187. 
Carver, John, 111, 113. 
Charaplain, 47, 187. 
Charleston, South Carolina, founded, 184; attack on Fort Moultrie, 

289-301. 
Clarentlon, Lord, 182. 
Clayborne, William, 181. 
Clift" Dwellers, 37-38. 
Clinton, General, 272, 277, 289, 298, 316, 328, 344, 349, 3.50, 356, 

361, 367, 369, 370, 372, 375. 
Coligni, 46. 

Colonies, list of thirteen original, 175. 
Columbus, born, 18; early journeys, 18; ideas of, 18; aid granted, 

19 ; sails, 21 ; sights land, 21 ; returns, 24 ; other voyages, 25 ; 

dies, 25; mentioned 28, 31. 32, 35, 3^, 44, 45, 76, 201. 
Conception, The, 54. 
Concord, battle of, 229, 264-271, 278. 



INDEX 385 

Congress, First Colonial, 253; iu session, 260, 271, 295-296, a'i. 

Connecticut, how named, 177; outline, 177-178. 

Cooper, James Fenimore, 240. 

Constitution of the United States, tirst plan for central govern- 
ment, 221. 

Cornwallis, General, 303, 305, 309, 311, 344, 346, 362, 363, 365, 366, 
307, 369, 370, 371, 372, 375 

Countess of Scarborough, The, 338. 

Cowpens, battle of, 363-365, 367. 

Cuba, 26, 66. 

Culpeper, John, 183. 

Currency, Continental, 341-;!4:2. 

Dale, Sir Thomas, 101. 

Dare, Virginia, first Avhite child, 48, 182. 

Deane, Silas, 324. 

Debt, Imprisonment for, 173-174. 

Declaration of huiepeudence, :?6I; Committee to draft, 295; 
adopted and signed, 295-296. 

D'Estaing, 328, 336. 

Delaplace, Captain, 279. 

Delaware, 46; settled by Swedes, 156-157; William Pcnu lands, 
168; how named, 179; outline, 179. 

Delaware, Lord, 101, 179. 

De Soto, 46; plan of, 65; sails, 66; lands, 66; wanderings of, ('>i\~ 
71 ; discovers Mississippi, 71 ; deatii and burial, 73 ; survivors 
reach Gulf, 74; character, 74; mentioned, 76, 78, 152, 191, 
197,201. 

Dewey, Admiral, 62. 

Diesiian, 236. 

Dinwiddle, Governor, 216, 218. 

Discovery, The, 151, 152. 

Dominique de Gourges, 85, 87. 

Dorchester Heights, 287, 289. 

Drake, Sir Fi-ancis, 47, 214. 

Erie, Lake, first ship to Nail, 204. 

Eutaw Springs, battle of, 366-367. 

Evangeline, quotation from, 234-236. 

Ferdinand, King, 19. 



386 INDEX 

Florida, 4u-16,65, 66, 68, 77; settled by Spanish, 78; ceded to Eng- 
land, 87; acquired by United States, 87. 

Forts, Beau Sejour, 231, 282; Creve Coeur, 205, 206, 207; Crown 
Point, 236, 237, 241, 27'.i; Du Quesne, 219, 220, 222, 225, 227, 
230, 236, 237, 241; Edward, 238, 239, 314; Frontenac, 202, 
203, 206, 207, 209, 227; Gaspereau, 231; Griswold, 368; 
Lee, 303, Miami, 204, 209; Mifflin, 319; Mercer, 320; Moul- 
trie, 289-301; Necessity, 220; Niagara, 222, 227, 236, 237, 
241; Oswego, 236, 237; St. Louis, 211, 212; Ticonderoga, 
240, 279, 300, 314; Trumbull, 368; Washington, 303; William 
Henry, 237. 

Fountain of Youth, 45. 

Fourth of July, why celebrate, 261 ; description, 297. 

Fox, George, 162. 

Franklin, Benjamin, plans central governuient, 221; advice to 
Braddock, 228; in England, 257, 295; in France, 325,337; 
lesson from life of, 377. 

Frobisher, 47. 

Frontenac, Count, 2j1-202, 212. 

Fry, Col. Joshua, 219. 

Gage, General, 260, 262-264, 269, 272, 277. 

Gamecock, The, 345. 

Gates, Gen. Horatio, 316-318, 322, 346, 362 ; lesson from life of, 377. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, 1'jI. 

Georgia, how founded, 173-174; charter and extent, 174-175; how 
named, 175; flrst settlement, 175; war with Spaniards, 175- 
176; slavery introduced, 176; royal colony, 177. 

Germantown, battle of, 319. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 47. 

Gomez, 55, 57, 61. 

Good Hope, Cape of, discovered, 53. 

Grand Pre, 234. 

Greene, General, 362-367. 

Green Mountain Boys. 279. 

Grenville, Prime Minister, 251. 

Griffin, The, 204-205. 

Guilford Court House, battle of, 366-367. 

Hale, Nathan, 302, 356-357. 



INDEX 



387 



Half Moon, The, U7, 149-150. 
Hanging Rock, 345. 
Harlem Heights, 302. 
Hartford, Connecticut, founded, 177. 
Harvard College, founded, 118. 
Hennepin, Father, 203, 206-208. 
Henry, Patrick, 253; lesson from life of, 377. 
Hessian Soldiers, 292, 303-304, 315-320. 
Hidden River, 191-192, 196, 2(^8. 
Hobkirk's Hill, battle of, 366, 

Howe, General, 272, 278-281, 289, 298, 300, 302, 313, 314 318 319 
320, 328. 1 - , 

Hudson, Henry, 48; sails east, 147; west, 148; lands, 148; ex- 
plores Hudson River, 149; sails back, 150; discovers Hudson 
Strait and Bay, 151 ; dies, 152. 
Iceland, visited by Columbus, 18; route of Norsemen, 28. 
Importation Act, 249. 

Indians, origin, 81; peculiarities, 32; life of, 33; title to land, 35; 
first attempt to expel whites, 103 ; first treaty of peace, 113 ; 
and William Penn, 169-170. 
Iowa, first white men, 194. 
Isabella, Queen, 19. 
Jamison, Lieut. Colonel, 353. 

Jamestown, Virginia, oldest English settlement, 48; founded, 90. 
Jasper, Sergeant, 291, 337. 
Jefferson, Thomas, 295. 
Jesuits, character of, 188-189. 
Jones, Paul, 337-340. 
Joliet, 191 (see also Marquette). 
Kieft, Governor of New York, 155. 
Labrador, 47. 
Ladrones, 60. 

Lafayette, 327, 336, 362, 369-370. 

La Salle, born, 199 ; plans of, 201, character, 201 ; preparation, 202- 
204; difficulties of , 205-209 ; reaches Mississippi, 208, 210; 
voyage, 210; reaches Gulf, 210; claims Mississippi Valley,' 
211; visits France, 212; near mouth of Mississippi, 212' 
killed, 212; fame of, 213. ' ' 



388 INDEX 

Last of the Mohicans, 240. 

Ledyard, Lieut. Colonel, 368. 

Lee, Gen. Charles, 329-330; lessons from life of, 377. 

Lee, Gen. Henry, 290, 346. 

Lee, Richard Henry, 295. 

Legislatnre, Colonial, first in neAv Avorld, 101: first plan for cen- 
tral government, 221. 

Lexington, battle of, 229, 2(;4-271, 278. 

Liberiy Bell, 296. 

Liberty, sloop seized, 258. 

Lincoln, Gen. B., 336, 344, 373. 

Livingston, Robert R., 295. 

LongfelloAv, qnotation from, 234, 267. 

London Company, 99, 104. 

Loudon, Lord, 237. 

Long Island, battle of, 298, 

Lndwell, Governor, 183. 

" Mad Anthony" Wayne, 333-335. 

Magellan, 45-47; born, 52 ; object, 53; sails, 54; reaches Brazil, 
55; Strait of Magellan, 57; enters Pacitic, 59; reaches La- 
drones, 60; Philippines, 60; dies, 60; survivors reach Spain, 
61; mentioned 65, 76, 147, 152, 201. 

Magnalia, quotations from, 135-139. 

Maine, 47 ; Hudson reaches, 148. 

Marion, Francis, 315-346. 

Marquette, youth of, 189; mission of, 191 ; route of, 192; reaches 
Mississippi, 192; in Iowa, 194; onward journey. 195; return 
journey, 196; dies, 197; compared ■with La Salle, 201. 

Maryland, how named, 181; outline, 181-182. 

Massacluisetts, first settlement, 11 1 ; corporation, 114; how named; 
114; Quakers. 118, 160; Witchcraft, 134 (see also PuritansJ. 

Massasoit, 113, 119. 

Mather, Cotton, 134-139. 

Mayflower, The, 109-113. 

Melendez, Pedro, sails, 78; founds St. .\ugustine, 78; purpose of, 
80; expeditious of, 81-84, revenge of French, 85-87. 

Mendoza, 56-57. 

Mesquita, 54-55, 57, 62. 



INDEX 381) 

Mississippi discovered by De Soto, 4G. 71 ; tomb of De Soto, 73; 
mystery of, 74, 191, readied by Marquette, rJ3 ; by Henne- 
pin, 207 ; by La Salle, 208. 

Monmouth, battle of, 328. 

Monroe, Colonel, 238, 239. 

Montcalm, General, 237-239, 242-245. 

Montgomery, Col. Richard. 281-283. 

Montreal, site of, 46, 187. 

Morgan, General, 3(i2, 36.5. 

Mound Builders, 36, 37. 

Narvaez, 77 

New Amsterdam (see New York City). 

New Foundland, 47. 

New Hampshire, outline, 179-180; liow nanieil, 180. 

New Haven, Conn., founded, 177. 

New Jersey, Hudson lands, 149; Quakers in, 163; how named, 180; 
outline of, 180-181. 

New Netherlands (see New York). 

New York City, beginning of, 148, 153; harbor, 1.56; under Eng- 
lish, 157 ; Washington evacuates, 302. 

New York, Hudson lands, 149; first colony, 153; Indian War, 154, 
155; disputes, 156; under English, 157; how named, 157; 
character of Dutch colonists, 158-159. 

Norsemen, visit America, 28 

North America, Islands reached by Columbus, 21 ; reached by 
Norsemen, 28; across Pa'iflc. 29; by Asia and Alaska, 30; 
by Island Atlantis, 30; main land not reached by Columbus, 
45; discovered by Cabot, 47, 214. 

North Carolina, 48; how named, 80, 182; outline, 182-184. 

North Church, 265. 

Nova Scotia, 230. 

Oglethorpe, James, born, 174; charter of Georgia, 174; sails, 175; 
settles on site of Savannah, 175; returns to England, 176; 
dies, 178. 

O'Hara, Major General, 373. 

Ohio Company, 216. 

Oregon, vi<ited by Drake, 47, 214. 

Otis, James, 250, 252-253. 



390 INDEX 

Pacific Ocean, discovered by Balboa, 4,"); visited by IMagellaii, 4G, 
59 ; by Dral^e, 47. 

Pallas, The, 837. 

Parker, Captain, 2<i8. 

Penn, William, early life, IGS-IT)."); obtains grant, KIC; visits jios- 
sessions, Ifis ; confers -with Indians, 169 ; fonnds Philadelphia, 
170; dies, 171. 

Pennsylvania, how named, KiC) ; grant to Penn, H'>6 ; first settle- 
ment, 166; government, 167-16.S; character of settlers, 171; 
Penn's title purchased, 171. 

Pe<|Uod War, 177-178. 

Philadelphia founded, 170; how named, 171; imi)ortance of, 172. 

Phillips, General, 362. 

Philippines, 26, 46, 50, 52, 60, 62. 

P gafetta, 54, 56, 62. 

Pilgrims, landed, 48; how named, 108; in Holland, 108-109; sailed, 
109; land, 111; suffering, 114; prosperity, 115; intolerance, 
115; character, 119-120. 

Pitcairn, Major, 265, 268. 

Pitt, William, 240, 256. 

Plymouth Rock, 48, 111. 

Pocaliontas, rescues John Smith, 93-97; marries, 103; dies, 10:1. 

Ponce de Leon, 45, 76. 

Poor Richard, 337. 

Port Bill, 260. 

Port Royal, first French settlement, 80, 182. 

Powhatan, 91, 103. 

Prescott, Colonel, 272. 

Princeton, battle of, 309-313. 

Prospect Hill, 278. 

Providence, Rhode Island, founded, 117, 178. 

Pulaski, Count, 336. 

Puritans, 107-108; character of. 119-120; witchcraft, 139; chil- 
dren, 123, 133; and Quakers, 160; remarks. 379. (See also 
Pilgrims.) 

Quakera, persecution of, in Massachusetts, 118, 144, 160; in Eng- 
land, 161-162; in New Jersey, 163; refuge in Pennsylvania, 
166. (See also William Penn and Pennsylvania.) 



INDEX 391 

Quebec, site of, 46; foundation, ls7; capture by Wolfe, 241-245 ; 

attack by Arnold, 281. 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 47-48, 88, 182. 
Rawdon, Lord, o66. 

Revere, Paul, 267; quotation from, 267. 
Rhode Island, first settlement, 117; how named, 178; outline, 178- 

179. 
Ribault, John, 80-81, 84, 182. 
Roanoke Island, 48, 182. 
Rocharabeau, Count, 343, 369. 
Rocky Mount, 345. 

Rolfe, John, husband Pocahontas, 103. 
Samoset, 113. 
San Antonio, The, 54. 
Sanders Creek, battle of, 346. 
San Salvador, 21. 
Santiago, The, 54. 
Saratoga, battles near, 317. 
Savannah, siege of, 335-336. 
Schuyler, General, 314, 316. 
Serapis, The, 338. 
Sherman, Roger, 295. 

Slavery, introduced, 101; in Georgia, 175-176; in Carolinas, 183. 
Slothel, Seth, 183. 
Smith, Lieut, (.'ol., 265. 
Smith, John, early life, 90; explorations of, 91, 99; President, 92; 

before Powhatan, 93; Governor, 99; return to England, 100, 

181. 
South America, discovered by Columbus, 45 ; rounded by Magellan, 

46, 50; by Drake, 47 ; reached by Magellan, 55. 
South Carolina, 46; first settlement, 80, 182; how named, 80, 182; 

outlined, 182-184. 
Speedwell, The, 109. 
Stamp Act, passed, 251 ; repealed, 257. 
Stark, Col. John, 315. 
Starved Rock, 211. 

St. Augustine, oldest city, 45; founded, 78, 81. 
Stillwater, battle of, 317. 



392 INDEX 

Stirling, General, 298. 

St. John's River, French settlement on, SI, 82. 

St. Leger, General, 31«. 

Stnart, Colonel, 360. 

Stnyvesant, Peter, 15.5. 

Sullivan, General, 298. 

Sumter, Thomas, 345-3-t«. 

Swamp Fox, The 345. 

Talon, Governor, 189-190. 

Tarleton, Colonel, 344, 346, 3r.:',-3tU. 

Taxation of Colonies, 248-280. 

Tierra del Fuego, 58. 

Tonti, 203-204, 207-210, 212. 

Ti'eaty, closing French and Indian War, 245; of France, acknowl- 
edging Independence of Colonies, 327 ; closing Kevolntion, 
375. 

Trenton, battle of, 304-304. 

Trinidad, The, 54. 

Valconr. Island, 300. 

Valley Forge, 319-321; remarks. 379. 

Vasco da Gama, 53, 147. 

Vergennes, Count de, quotations from, 24.">, 325. 

Verplanks Point, 333. 

Verrazzani, 46. 

Vespucii, Amerigo, 45. 

Victoria, The, 54. 

Virginia, 48; how named, 88; first settlement, 90; more settlers, 
98; charter and extent, 99-100; suftVriiig, 101; prosperity^ 
101; Royal Colony, 104. 

Vulture, The, 350, 352, 354. 

Warren, General, 283; lesson from life, 378. 

Washington, George, youth of, 217; trip to Lake Erie, 217-218 : 
first campaign, 219-220; aid de camp to Braddock. 222-228; 
elected commander-in-chief, 272; Bunker Hill, 272-278; cap- 
tures Boston, 287-289 ; at New York, 289 ; retreat from Long 
Island, 298, 300; gloomy days, 301; retreats, 302-303 ; vic- 
tory at Trenton, 303-305; bravery of, 312-313; at Princeton, 
309-313; at Brandywiue, 318; at Germantown, 319. 



INDEX 39.^ 

AVashlngton, Cxeorge, at Valley Forge. 81!)-32;5; vuvy and slander, 
322-323; Battle of Monnioiith, 328-330; rebukes Arnold, 
348; learns of Arnold's treachery, 354 ; watches New York, 
369; to Yorktown, 370; gratitude of people, 374; lesson 
from life of , 37S. 

Washington, Col. William, 363-3fi4. 

Watling Island, 21. 

Wayne, Gen. Anthony, .333-33.".. 

Webb, General, 238-23'J. 

West Point, 333; captnred by Wayne, 334; attempted betrayal by 
Arnold, 347-357. 

White child, first born in America, 48. 

White Plains, Ijattlo of, 302-303. 

Williams, Roger, lltJ-117, 144, 154, 177-178, ls2. 

Winthrop, John, 115. 

Witchcraft, 134-145; explanation, 142-144. 

Wolfe's Cove, 242-243, 282. 

Wolfe, General, 240-45, 281, lesson from life, 378. 

Writs of Assistance, 240-250. 

Wyoming, Massacre of, 330-332; avenged, 335. 

York, Duke of, 157, 180. 

Yorktown, scige of, 370-372; surrender, 372-374. 



PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 

Abercrombie (rib'er-krum-bi) . 

Altamalia (al-ta-ma-lnV). 

Amerigo Vespucii (a-rnfir-e'go vus-pot'che). 

Audre (auMri) 

Appalachee (ap-a-lach'e). 

Arbuthiiot ( Ar'buth-not) . 

Aristotle (ar-i.s-tot'el). 

Ashe (ash). 

Balboa (bal-bo'aj. 

Beau Sejour (bo sa-zhor'). 

Bon Homme Richard (b5-u6m'rich'ard). 

Burgoyne (btir-goiu'). 

Cabot (kab'ot). 
Carteret (kiir'ter-gt). 
Carthageua (kiir-tha-je'na). 
Cartier (kar-'.yfi'). 
Clarendon (klar'en-dou). 
Coligni (ko-leu'ye). 
Creve Coeiir (krav ker') 
Culpeper (kul'pep-gr). 

Darien (da^ri-en'). 

Delaplace (de-la-plas')- 

Desborough (dez'bnr-6). 

De Soto (dii so'to). 

D'Estaing (dgs-tan') 

Dieskau (des'kou') 

Dominique de Gourgues (do-men-ek'de Gorzh.; 

Duquesne (du-kan'). 

395 



396 PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 

Ferdinand (fgr'dl-nand). 
Frobisher (fr5'bish-er). 
Frontenac (front-niik')- 

Gaspereau (gas-] er-o'). 
Gomez (go'mes). 
Grand Pre (gron prfi'). 

Hennepin (hen'6-pin). 
Henrietta (hen-ri-et'aj. 
Huguenots (hu'g6-n5ts.) 

Iroquois (ir-o-kwah'). 
Isabella (iz-a-bel'a). 

Jesuit (jez'u-It). 
Joliet (j5-li-et')- 

Kanl?akee (kau-ka-ke')' 
Kieft (keft). 

I^adroues (hVdronz'). 
Lafayette (la-fa'yef). 
Laudonniere (16-do-nyar')- 
La Salle (Iji-sal')- 

Magellan (iniVjeran). 

Maria (ma-re'ii). 

Marquette ( mar-k6t' ) . 

Massasoit (nuis'a-soit). 

Mather (math'er). 

Melendez, Pedro (mji-len'deth, pa dro). 

Mendoza (men-do'tha). 

Mesquita (mCs-ke'ta). 

Miami (mi-iim'i). 

Monongaliela ( nio-u6n-ga-lie'la). 

Montmorenci (moii-mo-ron'se). 

Narvaez (nar-v -fitli'). 



PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY ^397 

Oglethorpe (o'gl-thorpj. 
Orinoco (6-ri-no'ko). 

Pascua Florida (piis'ko-a tlo-re'-da). 
Pequod (Pe'kwOd). 
Pitcairn (pit'karn). 
Pocahontas (p6-ka-h5n'tas). 
Ponce de Leon (pon'tba da la-ou'). 
Powhatan ( po\v-ha-tan'). 
Pulaski (pu-las'ki). 
Raleigh (ra'li). 

Rappahannock (rap-ji-lian'ok). 
Ribault (re-bo'). 
Roanoke (ro-a-nok'). 
Rochambeau (r5-shani-b6'). 

Sabrosa (sa-l)ro'sa;. 

Saniar (sa-mar';. 

Sanioset (sani'o'Sgt). 

Scai'borough (skiir'bo-ro) . 

Schuylkill (skol'kll). 

Serapis (sg-ra'pis). 

Stuyvesant (sti've-saut). 

Talon (ta-l6n')- 

Ticonderoga (ti-kSn-de-ro'gii). 

Tierre del Fuego (te-er'ra del fwago). 

Tituba (ti-to'ba). 

Toiiti (ton'te^ 

Valcour (val-kor'). 

Vasco da Gama (vas'ko da ga'raa). 

Vergennes (ver-zhen'). 

Ver razani ( ver-rat-sa'ne ) . 

Versailles (ver-salz). 

Wachusett (wii-chu'set). 

Winnebago (vvin-ne-bii'go.) 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





011 698 163 4 



